


Bloodline

by AetherLocket



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Neglect
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 17:05:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18347975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AetherLocket/pseuds/AetherLocket
Summary: A Saiyan female is found stranded on a mostly empty planet and taken back to Frieza's ship. Vegeta, Raditz and Nappa get the shock of their lives and slowly use this discovery to their advantage, especially the Prince.Their toughest obstacle, though, is Frieza himself.





	1. The Light in the Darkness

The Saiyan girl finally felt at peace with the world for once in her life. 

Instead of being chased by angry aliens or wandering the dirty streets in search of someone that could help her, she laid in a rare soft patch of green grass and stared at the stars up in the sky. 

It was absolute bliss- she would say- how her bruised fingers slid through the grass and the breeze filled her lungs just enough. 

A prime green leaf fluttered onto her outstretched hand. She turned to look at it slowly, smiling, then crushed it, holding it up to her face. The girl sighed, now frowning, and lifted herself off of the ground. 

She didn't have time to be laying around if she wanted to escape, find help and make it back to wherever her home planet was. It was the only thing she allowed herself to think about.

A long time ago, a little girl was sent to a planet she didn't know the name of with the sole purpose of destroying it, but once she got there, it was already abandoned and mostly empty. The few life forms she found were either dying or terrified of her. They couldn't speak her language, so she couldn't ask them what was wrong, and she couldn't ask for any help. 

She always believed someone must have gotten there before her. It was always eerily quiet, and the few aliens who survived always chased her away, scared for their miserable lives. 

When she was sent here, she was so small that she could barely fight. Not so small that she couldn't kick a guy in the crotch, but not big enough to understand why no one ever came back for her after all these years, or what happened to her race or parents back on her home planet.

It seemed the aliens on this planet were so weak that her race could send a little girl with no worries. Thinking that she could destroy the entire thing and walk away with less than a bruise and a sigh. 

She looked up at the sky, shaking off the thoughts before standing to cross a dirty river. The muck reached her shoulders, threatening to wash over her head, she just wanted to get out of it as fast as possible. Every day she travelled and scouted the area for her pod so she could possibly get back, but it was nowhere to be found. She almost lost hope.

It was confusing, and she felt betrayed. She remembered little things: the voices of her worried parents before she was sent off, and the crash when her pod first landed when she had bumped her head against the wall so hard that she passed out for a while. It had been years.

She was thankful at first: The planet's weak aliens nursed her back to health, fed her, and gave her a place to stay, shower and train. Soon after, she was subjected to doing their work. They thought they were stronger, yet she was just too timid as a little girl. These actions let her grow as a person. An angrier one, yet that shy, caring girl was still there on the inside. Although the food was nasty, the houses were crumbling, and they never knew when to shut up, she took it.. for a while. And then she got fed up, she was truly a picky, bratty child. 

That didn't last long. She couldn't take it anymore. Within a few weeks, most of them were dead, nearby houses were completely destroyed, her clothes were mysteriously gone, and she was just confused, but happy she wouldn't have to carry their lumber any longer or live in those atrocities. The planet looked ten times worse than before. Truly like someone had come and killed each and every being on it.

From then on, she believed someone had come and killed them all for her, so she would be free to find her way back home. She promised to one day find them to thank them for relieving her of the torture, then punch them where the sun doesn't shine for leaving her there all alone.

She gave herself a name since she didn't know hers: Eden. The name itself calmed her, and now she was attached to it. Every day she prayed that help would come. If not, she assumed that she was doomed to stay there and slowly starve to death. 

After scrambling out of the river, she walked away from the grass that came after and ran into the cracked streets. It had been a while since she had seen them. With flickering, dull street lights, mutated, tiny alien animals scampering around, cracked roads and eerie buildings, she knew that she wanted to definitely get out of there as fast as possible. She had been slacking off for the past few days, almost giving up and accepting her new life. There was no way she would ever subject herself to that type of life. 

She had promised herself that and intended to keep her promise. Staying strong was the greatest challenge she had ever faced. She knew there were greater things out there, just waiting for her to arrive. 

She found a tattered and half destroyed house, choosing it to take refuge in. It was so quiet that she could hear the sound of her own bare feet softly tap the cold ground. Each step sent a small shock up her spine, but her face remained unchanged. She sat down on one of the chairs that had remained undestroyed, making it emit a soft creak that seemed to echo around the empty building. A piece of the ceiling fell to the ground, but she didn't bat an eyelash at the sight of destruction or even the dust rising only to settle over the newest wreckage. She'd grown accustomed to it as it was normal for this planet, especially after all these years.

She simply ignored it, laying her head down and attempted to sleep. For a moment, she dreamt of her home planet. 

Her parents and her friends. It all seemed so real, yet so blurry. So blurry that she couldn't even pinpoint where she was, but deep down, she knew she was dreaming of her home planet. This is what motivated her, even after all these years, to plow forward. 

She was enjoying the dream, her parents picking her up, tossing her around, throwing soft punches as training, crying softly when she punched the screen of the pod, but a click and blinding light woke her up. Sadly, she was a light sleeper.

What seemed to be a little alien girl shouted at her in their alien language that I've gotten used to hearing, pointing at me. She seemed terrified and confused. 

"Hey, hey.. I come in peace," Eden tried to calm the little girl down, but to barely any avail. Eden put her hands up and wrapped her tail around her waist to show the little girl. She wasn't angry anymore towards their race for basically enslaving her... Well, maybe that was a stretch, even for Eden, but that is what it felt like for her. Even if she was angry, she would have never decided to mutilate this little girl for shits and giggles. 

Her tattered white gown, dirty pink skin and husky, tired voice told me she was not living in the best environment. Eden almost felt sorry for her. The little girl's bony finger began to tremble, "W-what do you want?" she said. She seemed to know English which surprised Eden. 

The Saiyan girl was ecstatic. Why? That was the first sign of life she had ever seen on this planet that spoke her language and didn't immediately pull out a pitchfork and began to chase her without even provoked. This was the first possible sign that she would be able to get out of this planet alive. She needed any help she could get.

She may have been stretching it just a bit, but she was just so happy that she smiled so brighty her cheeks began to ache. Eden stayed quiet, staring at the little girl intently, deciding her next move. It seemed to only frighten the little girl even more. The girl's antennas twitched, curling down. 

"P-Please don't hurt me! I'll give you anything!" the girl whimpered fearfully, her voice high and terror-filled. 

"I won't. I promise," Eden said, trying to gain her trust. The possibility of getting home made her kinder than she would've been otherwise. 

The little girl's eyes seemed to soften, so Eden got up from her seat. Her eyes wandered down to Eden's side, stopping at her waist.

"A tail... Y-you're a Saiyan..?"

Eden raised an eyebrow, "A what?" she played dumb. She had no idea what reason this little girl had to be racist. Hell, Eden was barely on her home planet long enough to even learn to speak, much less learn more about her race and their history with other races. She had no time to find out. All she knew about herself is that her home planet is Vegeta, and she is a Saiyan who was sent there for one reason: to kill every living being on this planet and take it over. After the mysterious person did all of that for her, she refrained from killing and focused on finding help. 

"You are!" she cried, still frozen in place. "You have a tail.. just like the others.."

"Others?"

"Are you gonna kill me too?" her voice trembled. "I heard stories..."

Eden assumed some Saiyans came and wreaked havoc on this planet a while ago. Maybe those were the ones who killed most of them off years ago and saved her from slavery? Now, they may be indirectly ruining everything for her. 

'What a pain,' Eden thought.

She took a step forward, heavily confused. She only wanted to leave this godforsaken planet, she had no idea what this girl was talking about and she had no time to stay and find out. 

The girl apparently changed her mind, scared by Eden's advance, quickly turning and running for the door without another word.

Before she could make it, she tripped on her gown, beginning to sob. Eden threw the chair to the side and walked over to her. She was so weak that she couldn't even lift herself off of the ground. Eden now noticed the endless cuts and bruises on her neck and arms. She almost felt pity for the girl, so she put her finger to her lips and outstretched her hand to help the girl up. When the girl instinctively flinched away, Eden spoke with her eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," she told the girl in a steady, soothing tone, "I don't know what a Saiyan is, and I don't know who you're talking about.. but I promise you that I won't hurt you."

"...Promise?" the girl whispered, holding out her pinky finger. 

Eden took hers, smiling and lied as easily as she took a breath, "Promise. I'm just a girl who's lost and hungry. I'm not from this planet, and just trying to find my way home. I won't cause any trouble."

"You're lost?" she asked. Her eyes filled with pity. "If that's true, then... you can come eat with us. Then we can maybe help you get back home."

"Us?"

"My Mom," she said. "She's in the next room. She can help you, I think."

The girl took Eden's hand softly, though she snuck cautious peeks at Eden. Eden smiled and, to her surprise, the girl shyly returned it as she dragged Eden over to a door on the other side, easily leading Eden through the wreckage and seeming to dance over the fallen glass and small metal shards. With her other hand, she turned the doorknob and harshly shoved the door open. She went in first while Eden stayed outside, peeking in. A dim light shone, the first in miles. 

"Come in, lost girl!" she invited in an oddly chipper tone. 

"Lyuhi.. who is this?" asked the wizened voice of an older woman as Eden stepped inside, the rotting wood making concerning sounds under her feet. The various bits of metal pricked at Eden's feet, but she easily ignored the pain. Her tail simply fluffed up in response to the pain. 

She made sure to keep her steps slow and steady as to not startle either of the two. The last thing Eden needed was to scare them away. The little girl, Lyuhi, cleared her throat nervously, 

"Mama Rhi.. She's lost and hungry.. can we please help her?" The girl asked hopefully, but the woman simply watched Eden curiously. She quickly bowed.

"Please, ma'am. I haven't eaten in so long, and am trying to find my home planet. I swear that I won't be a burden." It was hard being polite after all Eden had suffered through with this damn race, but she was desperate to leave. Not to mention that she was absolutely starving. 

The older woman slowly nodded, "Very well. Come sit." Her antennas were much smaller than the little girl, and were permanently curled down. The wrinkles plastered across her slightly darker pink skin shifted as she smiled at me. Eden realized her good fortune immediately. She'd found a nice little girl and a kind old lady. 

Eden swiftly complied, pulling out a rotting chair to sit across from the woman. Lyuhi sat on the woman's lap. The woman, Rhi, patted the girl's head, dragging her fingers that looked like gnarled tree branches along her scalp. Usually the few living aliens from this planet were skeptical and had trust issues, but these two seemed different. They were oddly kind, trusting and generous, which warmed Eden's heart just a bit... and filled her with guilt. After all, she was there simply to use them, maybe kill them if they try anything. She dec against the latter, as she was bonding quickly.

"We have some bread, excuse me Lyuhi," Rhi said, reaching over to the counter next to her and grabbing a bag with loaves of bread. The hungry Saiyan girl coughed, 

"Er, don't you have something... more... I don't know..." Eden knew this wasn't the time to be picky, but the bread had mold, and she could swear that an ant had scurried away from it when it had been picked up. 

"More fancy? Filling? We're running low on food and supplies, but I guess we can share a bit," Rhi smiled. 

"Oh, on second thought, you don't have to—" Eden immediately started, guilt and disgust warring with hunger.

"I insist."

"Can I get it?" Lyuhi asked. Her mother nodded and smiled. Their close relationship threatened to further warm her heart. It was rare to see this. 

"So what's your problem?" Rhi asked. Her eyes remained focus on Eden's face, probably hovering over the dust and dirt all over her. 

"I was sent here in a pod years ago, and I can't find it. I'm stranded," Eden kept the explanation short. She knew the potential costs of saying too much.

"A.. pod?"

"A ship," Eden nodded. "You've probably never seen it before."

"What does it look like, then?" Eden thought for a moment. It had been so long since she had seen it, "It's round, white and has a red tinted window on the front."

"I'm sorry, I don't think I've ever seen it," Rhi looked down and coughed. "I haven't left here that much since.."

Eden nodded, "Do you know anyone that could possibly... have a ship?"

"Yes," said the woman. "I know someone who could actually make one for you. That's their speciality."

'Where has she been all my life?' Eden thought.

Lyuhi came back moments later with a huge bowl. Inside was a mixture of food Eden had never had the pleasure of seeing before. At first, it looked disgusting, but the exquisite smell made Eden change her mind faster than you could say 'great ape'. 

They both saw Eden's excitement, "Go ahead. Eat. We already had our fair share," Rhi sweetly pushed the bowl over to Eden's side of the table. Eden raised an eyebrow, Rhi nodded. Lyuhi sat on her guardian's lap again and anxiously waited for the hungry girl to eat. Eden heard someone's stomach rumble, and it wasn't hers. Guilt filled her again. She was about to devour what could be their only remaining food. 

Nevertheless, she picked up the spoon on the side of the bowl, scooped up some of the food and closed her eyes. She hadn't eaten in so long, so she didn't care what this could possibly taste like. 

Her heartbeat increased as the spoon inched closer to her lips. There was ear popping tension until a loud explosion put all of them out of their thoughts. Eden fingers loosened their already lax grip, dropping the spoon and the precious food that came with it onto the floor. Before she could apologize, the floor shook, almost as though the building was enraged by Eden's cruelty. 

"Mama..." Lyuhi whimpered fearfully.

"...Don't move," Rhi urged in a quiet, soft voice, as though the building might shake again if they were too loud. 

"I'll check it out," Eden said, though she hesitated. It was probably nothing, and this was the perfect way to gain their trust. She knew this planet's race was extremely intelligent. All she needed to do was get them to love her, then make her some kind of spaceship or help her find her old one, and she would be free. She knew there were probably more steps to it, but she decided that it's best to worry about that later. After all, she'd spent her whole life learning how to be a master at manipulation. 

"Are you sure? Don't get hurt," Rhi said, her voice coated with worry.

"Is it them again, Mama?" Eden briefly wondered why Lyuhi cared about her so much, even when she just met her and supposedly was scared of her race. Now the guilt was bubbling around in her head. The girl was probably aching for a friend, for someone to trust. Eden decided that she wasn't going to be that person. She shrugged off the depressing thought and smiled, 

"I won't be long. I'll be back in a few minutes or so, then we can all eat. It's probably nothing," she said warmly. Once she finished that sentence, the ground shook again. Lyuhi screeched and held onto Rhi's neck, burying her face in her gray hair. 

"It's okay," said Rhi, rubbing Lyuhi's back.

By the time Eden managed to reach the door, the building had shaken three more times. She held onto the door frame and ran out once it had seemed to calm down. 

She ran around a few corners to where the sounds had seemed to have come from. She stopped when she saw five round pods, similar to the one she was in as a baby, each spaced a few feet away from one another. The thing that made her heart stop is that each of them seemed to be freshly opened, smoke rolling out of them. 

Whatever had been inside seemed to have left. Her eyes widened, she had a million different thoughts and reasons for why there could be five pods randomly landing on this planet. She smiled again, this could be her chance to escape, or, she frowned, this could be the planet's demise. 

Maybe they found out she failed at her mission to kill every being on the planet and take it over... Whatever it was, she couldn't shake off the same sinking feeling of dread in her stomach.


	2. Once Peaceful

"I'm hungry..."

"We've literally just landed Recoome, you're going to hafta hold on a while longer," said another voice in annoyance. Jeice flipped his long white hair, breathing out. The planet was unbelievably hot and already exhausting to be on. 

"Can we start messing the place up yet?" asked Guldo as he rolled out of his pod, interrupted from a sweet nap.

"Wait a minute there," Captain Ginyu stopped him by holding out his glove covered palm. If he had not, the little green alien would have shot a destructive energy blast at the little hut ten feet away from them."Why shouldn't we take in the scenery before we destroy it?"

"But it's a ghost town, Cap'n. And it's ugly."

"Why were we called to do this stupid monkey work anyways..?" Guldo mumbled in displeasure. He missed the more exciting missions they were sent on, not simply destroying civilizations and planets. Those were for the Saiyans. The monkeys. "Wasn't a Saiyan sent to take care of this planet a while ago?"

"Yes, but.." Ginyu furrowed his brows as he flew up. "It seems like they never came back," he said as he spotted some life forms running through some of the buildings. He shot an energy blast there and in an instant, the area was cleared and several dead bodies were sealed behind the thick smoke. "Let's go over there. It looks more.. pure," he pointed to the grasslands. It was like night and day.

"We'll take what we can get Guldo," said Burter. "If I'm correct, we should be getting paid for this."

"Like we actually get any actual money from Frieza. Sometimes I just want to—"

Burter hit Guldo on the head before he could finish speaking. "Do you want to get knocked in the head by Frieza next, you absolute idiot?"

 

"Oh shit," Eden whispered. She witnessed the little alien children, possibly looking to see what the commotion was about and subsequently being blown up in the building across from her. Looking up, she saw the purple man floating in the air. A feeling of intense dread filled her up, it made her want to fall onto the ground right there and give up, but she didn't.

She turned around, careful not to make any noise and ran back into the home Rhi and Lyuhi shared. "Guys, we need to leave. Now."

"Huh?" Lyuhi whimpered. "What's going on?"

Rhi nodded. She believed the Saiyan. She stood up and laid Lyuhi on the ground, "Come."

Eden nodded in relief. She felt the need to protect them now, "We need to hide. Some aliens just landed here and they just.. they just killed some people over in the building across from us."

"Are they Saiyans?" asked Lyuhi.

Eden shook her head. They looked nothing like herself, and each of their skin colors were different, so it was safe to assume that they were multiple species. She knew Saiyans were practically identical to humans. "No, I don't think so, but they're still dangerous."

"What do we do?" Lyuhi began to sob again and pulled on Rhi's dress. "I don't want to die... I don't want to..."

"Um... Come on," Eden urged. She led the two out the back door, out of sight from the Ginyu Force. They slid through the shadows on the cracked streets and Eden led them back down to the dirty river she'd crossed earlier. 

"There's a hut over there," Eden pointed out. "It's small enough to have Lyuhi hide there." She recognized as the hut she used to play in as a child. Sometimes she went back there to reminisce about her short lived happiness. 

"Go," Rhi urged and shook the little girl's shoulders. 

"B-But Mama..." the girl whimpered, obviously disliking the idea of being left alone. 

"I'm not leaving you, it's just until the invaders are gone."

"Okay.. I trust you Mama Rhi," said Lyuhi. She took a deep breath and ran over to the hut, slamming the door shut behind her. She climbed over some boxes in the corner and sobbed quietly. The small boxes were the only thing to hide behind. It was truly not for more than one person to hide inside. 

Eden and Rhi heard another explosion nearby, it was so powerful that the debris and wind reached them. She could swear that a powerful energy source was flying towards them. The same feeling of dread washed over her for a moment. 

"Come on," said Eden. "Take a deep breath."

Rhi seemed confused but complied as Eden grabbed her hand and jumped into the river. With their eyes shut and chests expanded as much as possible, a harsh wind washed over them. Mumbling was heard above them. Their hearts stopped for a moment. Eden dug her free hand into the mud and muck at the bottom or the river, determined to hold herself underwater for a long as possible. 

The Captain sighed and glanced under him towards Burter and Guldo. "Scan the area," said the captain as he floated back onto the ground with the rest of them and stepped back, ready to let his squad do the dirty work for him. The tall blue man nodded, clicking his scouter and quickly scanning the barren planet.

"I don't see anything here at all Captain— wait.."

"Found something?" Ginyu inquired with a smirk and stretched once he heard the beeping from Burter's scouter.

"I'm picking up a power source from inside that hut, Captain," said Burter. "It's as strong as a fly, though."

"Let's have Jeice go check it out," Ginyu commanded and turned to the Red Magma, "You've been slacking lately, so I've heard from Lord Frieza."

"I apologize Cap'n.." Jeice hung his head as he growled at the mischievous snickers behind him. 

Eden's heart told her that something was wrong. 

'Two damn shots do some things to you,' Jeice thought as he clenched his fist. 'I need to up my tolerance.' He flew over to the hut and landed softly in front of the door, first examining the odd material it was made out of. "Well, let's take a gander."

There was some type of animal fur coating the frame. He ran his thumb along it before his legs took him inside. The door automatically closed behind him. Judging by his scouter's tellings, he was ready to kill a civilian who may have been huddling in the corner or on the ceiling. According to the device, he could kill it with a flick of his finger. 

"Anyone 'ere?" he shouted and raised a white brow. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be." 

When the scouter told him that the frail power level behind a couple of boxes and the outline slowly transitioned into his vision, he sighed and began to move them aside instead of blowing them up. He had learnt his lesson.

His eyes softened once he moved the boxes , what seemed to be a little alien girl with her face up to her knees and dried tears on her face, beginning to turn light pink, coated with intense fear and suffering.

Her head laid against the floor as her eyes wandered up to the man's red, built legs and eventually, to their face. "Who are you..?" Lyuhi whispered meekly, her eyes holding obvious terror.

Jeice pursed his lips up and didn't answer. Instead he picked up the girl by the neck. She struggled and kicked as much as she possibly could, but Jeice only stared at her with a straight face, wondering what the best course of action was here. 

Finally, he lifted his hand, forming a fist and brushing some hair out of the girl's face, placing it behind her ear. "Sorry," he said cockily. Lyuhi cowered in fear, awaiting her inevitable death. Before his fist could connect with Lyuhi's tiny body, a kick was delivered to the back of his head.

"OW! WHAT THE —"

Jeice hit the floor. He spun, though still on the ground and looked behind him, seeing Eden holding Lyuhi in her arms. Furiously, she kicked Jeice in the side.

"BITCH!" he shouted and used unnecessary strength to force himself onto his feet. His scouter fell to the ground as he pushed Eden against the wall, Lyuhi fell to the ground and ran to the corner. Jeice's hands stayed on either side of Eden's head, growling. 

"Sounds like Jeice is having trouble in there," said Recoome. "Recoome can help him!"

"No, let him handle whatever it is on his own," Ginyu sighed. 

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he scowled and delivered a knee to the girl's stomach.

Eden clenched her teeth against the pain, tasting blood coat her tongue and dodged a punch that connected with the wall instead. It wasn't on purpose, but because she collapsed. Her eyes fluttered closed, yet she thought, 'All these years of training.. And in my first fight, I lose to a single blow? I'm fucking pathetic.'

She forced herself to open her eyes, looking at Lyuhi whose back was hugging the wall. Eden felt that something else was wrong, like someone had just passed away. She was relieved once she noticed Lyuhi was still breathing, but in quick, ragged breaths that made her pant in pain. She was obviously in a great deal of pain. 

"I'm sorry," Eden murmured numbly before the ringing in her ears became too much for her to bare. Combined with her blurry vision, she peacefully transitioned to a deep sleep. 

Jeice sighed and rubbed his side, not even looking as he shot an energy blast to the corner of the hut. He managed to break out through the roof before it engulfed the whole thing. He was confident that the both of them were dead, and with a sigh, he turned around. "Cap'n! I'm done here!"


	3. A Prince & His Men

The rest of the Ginyu Force flew over to his side and clapped dramatically. 

"Great job Jeice," said Ginyu. "And you're only bleeding a little bit."

"I— I was ambushed!" he tried to explain himself and angrily picked up his scouter. 

"Ambushed?"

"There was only a little girl in the hut, but then some crazy bloke just came up behind me and kicked me in the damn neck! I couldn't do anything!"

While the rest of them died laughing, Ginyu flew over inside the hut to inspect both of them.

"J-Jeice are you serious?" Burter held his chest, holding in his laughter. 

"Not you too.." Jeice mumbled, "I'm serious! You would've been surprised too!"

"Jeice," Ginyu called.

"Yes, Cap'n?" Jeice turned and shuffled back to the hut.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Ginyu pointed to Eden's unconscious, bruised body.

"I did, that's the one that ambushed me."

"I'm not talking about that..." Ginyu's tone lowered. He bent down and grabbed Eden's tail. 

"Wha..? I didn't even notice it... A Saiyan?"

Ginyu nodded, "Lord Frieza is not going to believe this," he then grinned. "Honestly I'm not even sure if this is a good thing or not. After all, he hates these monkeys with a passion."

"But what is one doing all the way out here? Didn't a meteor kill all their asses? Well, except for those three assholes, of course."

"It seems Lord Frieza forgot about one of them.." Ginyu said and picked Eden up by her tail. He eyed Lyuhi in the corner, twitching. "Let's take the monkey back."

"I haven't killed her have I?" Jeice asked. He wasn't ready to take the consequences if he did.

"No. It's on the brink of death, though. And dirty. If it wants to live, we need to get it to the rejuvenation chamber."

"I mean no disrespect Cap'n, but are we seriously going to save some monkey trash?"

Ginyu laughed heartily, "Are you serious? Lord Frieza would love us if we took it back to him and he got to execute it with his own hands."

"I hope you're right Cap'n.." Jeice mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

Deep down, Jeice wasn't so sure that would be the case once they got back to Lord Frieza's ship. After all, the Emperor did spare three specific idiots.

-VvV-

Eden's eyes fluttered open and immediately shot back down. It felt like she was floating in the middle of the ocean. For a moment, she panicked. 

Her heartbeat accelerated rapidly as the memories came flooding back to her, hitting her like a truck. 

Questions, questions. She had tons of them. 

Who was that man who attacked Lyuhi? Who is this Lord Frieza they were speaking about? Where was she? Where were Lyuhi and Rhi? Are they alive? Why does she care? She didn't even know if she was alive herself, especially since she felt like she was in another state of mind at that moment. 

She heard their entire conversation and struggled not to sob the entire time. No matter how tough she acted on the outside, she was sensitive. She didn't want to die, especially not after all the trouble she went through. 

Unable to open her eyes, she had no idea where she was. She forced her eyes opened even though they irritated her, sending pricks of pain down her neck. She simply ignored it and scanned what little of the room she could see through the blue tinted window. 

Out of the corner, she caught a figure sitting in a chair, their arms crossed and seemingly asleep. The room was too dark to see their face. Soon enough, Eden gave up on trying to recognize them in any way. 

The breathing apparatus over her mouth made it hard to move. Slightly struggling to turn her head, she could tell she was in a small chamber, she felt like her wounds were whisking away. It was a soothing sensation and she felt like she could stay like that forever, but she snapped out of it and began to struggle against the wires. 

She attempted to lift her arms to remove the wire sticking out from each of her temples, but after failing, she realized that wasn't probably a good idea. If her wounds really were being healed by this machine, maybe it was best to let it be. 

She heard footsteps and looked back up to see the figure from earlier up out of their chair and walking over to the window. She shut her eyes and pretended to be unconscious. A knock and a husky male voice startled her, 

"I know you're awake. You've been in there for an hour, you should be perfectly fine by now." She gave up and slowly opened her eyes to meet the person's. They had their face almost pressed up against the glass, watching her intently. Their haunting black eyes wandered down to her chest area and quickly back up to her face, and that's when she realized she was naked. 

A hissing sound followed before she could react, and she was released. The breathing apparatus fell off of her and so did the wires. Her arms instinctively flew over to cover her chest as was she tipped onto the ground with a loud yelp. Surprisingly, she felt as if the attack had never happened. 

She laid there, frozen in intense embarrassment that made her want to wither away. The man cleared his throat, "Did you get hit upside the head or something?"

"NO!" Eden exclaimed and stood up abruptly. She looked up and took in his features. His spiky long hair almost reached the floor, and his eyes told an entire story. She frantically looked around and finally found a short baby blue cloth hanging on the chair the man was sitting on. She snatched it and wrapped it around her body, burning red, "Who the hell are you and who do you think you are?!"

"I'm Raditz. You'll have to get used to that name," he said bluntly. "Oh, and that's dirty. One of my friends uses it to clean after his... afternoon alone time sessions, and trust me, you do not want that DNA on you."

She froze again and stared down at the cloth, slightly pulling it away from her body in disgust. She used her tail to hold it up in front of her, covering Raditz's view yet not letting it touch her, "There. Now, can I get my damn clothes back? And where the hell am I?"

He sighed and walked over to one of the shelves on the other side of the room, pulling out a white, baggy t-shirt. He crumbled it into a ball and threw it at full force at the girl. 

It hit her on the forehead so hard that it pushed her onto the ground. Feeling dizzy, she quickly put it on and scrambled to her feet, "What was that for?!" she exclaimed. Raditz sighed, usually Saiyans were not self conscious of their bodies, but he let it slide for now since she was not supposedly raised as one, according to what he had heard. He would have to burn that knowledge into her later on. 

"We need to talk," he said and began to walk to the door. Every footsteps made Eden more anxious, angry and stressed.

"What business could you possibly have with me? And I still don't have any pants!"

"Oh for... just pull it down. You're so skinny and small that it doubles as a dress anyways," he chuckled. 

"Fuck y-"

"Tell me something."

"Huh?" Eden looked up, tugging at the hem of her new shirt. 

"What do you think will happen to you?"

Eden was unable to process that question, so instead she raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

"Nevermind. I'll explain later. Now what was a Saiyan like you doing on that worthless planet all alone?" he asked, his gaze sharp.

She now noticed the tail wrapped around his waist. She suddenly felt safer in his presence, but together with his height and build, she could help but feel a bit overwhelmed while he stood over her. He had to at least be six foot five, and Eden was hovering around five foot, not that she could measure herself. 

"I was supposed to.. take it over? Destroy it? I don't really know which, but I wasn't concerned about that."

"Then what were you possibly concerned about?" his tone darkened.

"Getting out of there alive," Eden said simply. "Getting back to my own planet. I think my pod was destroyed, or just lost. No one ever came back for me, so I was trapped there."

"Planet Vegeta is gone," he said bluntly and stretched. "Even if you found your ship, you wouldn't have found Vegeta where it was before. You would've been wandering in space, probably kidnapped by some warlord or alien king. Or worse... having to land on some other worthless, dirty planet and live as a slave or working girl."

Eden stayed silent, her gaze staying on the ground. After all these years, she would never get to see her home planet. "Then.. then where am I right now?" He stayed silent. "And what's going to happen to me?" He ran his hands through his hair. "Who are you?" He stared at the girl in annoyance. "Can you answer any of my damn questions?"

"Stay here. I'm going to go get someone," he declared and reached for the doorknob.

Before he could, Eden stood, "Wait!"

He turned, "What?"

She looked down and tried once more, asking something she desperately needed to know, "What happened to the planet that I was found on? It wasn't destroyed, was it?"

Raditz looked back to the door and sighed, giving up, "I have no clue. You'll have to ask someone who would know," and with that, he shut the door behind him. 

Eden fell at the sound of his footsteps getting lower in volume. If Lyuhi and Rhi were dead and their planet was destroyed, it was all her fault, and she couldn't accept that.

"STUBBORN LITTLE BASTARD!" she shouted, knowing that he probably couldn't hear her. "AHH! GODDAMNIT IT! WHY CAN'T I GET A STRAIGHT ANSWER?" Eden tugged at her own hair and frantically rolled on the floor.

A few minutes later, Eden heard malicious chatter as the door creaked open again. Raditz had come back with two other men. All three of them were wearing similar combat armor. One of them choked when he saw her. Eden sat cross legged on the floor, quaking and shooting violent glares at the three. Dread flooded through her veins, andher legs became hauntingly weak under their stare. 

"This is Nappa," Raditz pointed to the older, bulky bald man. "And Vegeta," he pointed to the shorter, seemingly angry one.

'He's named after the planet? How weird,' Eden thought. 

"The Ginyu Fucks weren't kidding..." chuckled the older, bald one, Nappa. "I can't even believe it. They actually found one! I never thought I'd see the day."

The shorter one, Vegeta, had a facial expression that contained different feelings. One of them would be surprised, and the other would be an attempt to stay visibly calm, 

"This is a major discovery," he said. Eden could swear she saw a slight smirk on his face, and that didn't calm her one bit. She didn't want to know what they had planned. "Thank The Ginyu Force for me. Actually, don't. I'm just surprised they didn't execute her."

"She has questions," Raditz said. "And a lot of them."

"That's only natural. I can handle that," Vegeta said. "Nappa, carry her back."

"Got it, boss," Nappa nodded and walked over to Eden, who was still on the floor, scared and confused. He purposely chuckled menacingly to intimidate her, and it worked. He bent down quickly and threw her over his shoulder.

He laughed as she struggled, beginning to throw weak punches to his hardened back and flailing her legs frantically. Raditz and Vegeta walked in front. Eden desperately tried to slow him down and maybe find a way to hit him and escape, but it proved to be no use. He was too strong for Eden. 

"Does Frieza know?" 

Raditz stopped in his tracks, "That, I'm not sure of. Who knows if the Ginyu Force blabbed already."

"She's not a threat or anything... I don't see why Frieza would have to even care unless he still believes in that legend," Vegeta sneered.

"NOT A THREAT?! I'LL RIP YOUR BALLS OFF!" Eden snarled, enraged at being helpless.

"Feisty. I like that."

"Watch how you talk to the Prince," Nappa growled and pinched her ass. She squeaked and used all of her strength to angrily hit his back, burning red. He only laughed. 

"A prince? You've got to be kidding me," Eden groaned and slouched. 

"Yes," he grinned and turned. "I am Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans, and you should treat me as such."

Eden only stared at him with a deadpan expression, her eye twitching in frustration. Raditz finally walked up to one of the doors lining the halls and unlocked it. 

"Let's keep her in here for now, we can train later. We have the day off anyways. I'm sure Frieza will eventually call her down later," said Raditz. 

"So what's your name girl?" Nappa grinned as he walked inside and threw Eden on the bed. 

She didn't answer. Instead she cowered and pressed her back against the frame.

"I get it, you're confused," Nappa opened up a mini fridge and took out a can of soda, "You want one?"

"Huh?" Eden's eyebrows drew together in confusion as she stared at the odd cylindrical metal object. She had never even seen a can of soda before. 

"Do you want a fucking soda?" he growled. 

"Oh... yeah, sure," Eden whispered. 

Nappa sighed and threw the can at full force at her. This time she managed to catch the projectile before it could break her nose. Her heartbeat accelerated and her stomach sunk at the thought as she struggled to open the can. At that moment she realized that she needed some serious training. All that time on that godforsaken planet did not help her to reach the basic standards for a Saiyan woman's strength.

Raditz, who was watching the whole thing, sighed and walked over to Eden. He snatched the can from her hand and opened it with ease, lowering his hand back down. "I could've done that myself," she muttered. She reached for the can, but before her fingers could connect, Raditz pulled away. He placed a finger on her lips.

"After this, you're going to train until you can't move. Got it?"

Eden furrowed her brows and shrugged, looking off to the side. Raditz accepted it as it was natural for Saiyans to be stubborn and distant. He handed the soda can back to the girl and walked back to the bed where he sprawled and took in a deep breath. 

"Now, what's your name?" Nappa asked again. 

Eden finished chugging the delicious, refreshing beverage and grinned as he exhaled. "It's Eden. Now, can I get some answers now?"

"Eden? Well that's no Saiyan name..." Raditz said.

"I gave it to myself while I was stranded," she explained angrily, hoping to get herself some answers soon.

"She probably has a real name, but it's not like her parents are here to tell us what it is, so we'll work with it," Vegeta crossed his arms and began to pace around the spacy room. He averted his sharp gaze to the wall as he spoke,

"To briefly explain your situation, Planet Vegeta, your home planet, was destroyed years ago. The entire Saiyan race was destroyed along with it."

Eden's eyes softened. 

"All that is left is us three, and now, since we've discovered that there was another survivor, and a female at that..." he trailed off. "Surely you know what this could mean."

"Uhhh..." Eden played dumb. Deep down, she grew more terrified by the second. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm sure you know," Vegeta's eyes hovered over her hips. She growled at him in response and wrapped her tail around her waist. 

He continued, "We work for an Emperor called Frieza now. Now, so do you. You'll have to train if you want to survive."

"Wait, I didn't agree to any of this."

Vegeta sighed while Raditz and Nappa shared looks. "That's not how this works, not anymore," Vegeta declared. 

"I need a second," Eden stood up and laid on the bed, face down, next to Raditz. She sighed heavily and groaned, trying to process all of the information that was dumped on her. 

"You can ask your questions now," said Raditz as he sat up. 

Eden lifted her head up for a second, thinking of everything she wanted to say. She sat up and took a deep breath. "Where am I?"

"On Frieza's, or your new ruler's, ship," Nappa answered. "This is where you'll be staying until you're sent out for missions."

"Missions...? Like what?"

"Destroying planets, selling them, the usual. Probably what you were supposed to do back there."

She growled, "Ok, then, do either of you two know what happened to that planet I was found on?"

They both shrugged.

Eden sighed, "Great."

Vegeta cleared his throat, "One more question."

"One more?! But I didn't even get an answer for that last question!"

"Too bad. One more," Vegeta repeated.

"Fine," Eden growled and chose her last question carefully. Deep down, she didn't know if it was a good idea, but that wouldn't stop her now. 

"Where can I find the Ginyu Force?"


	4. Every Man for Himself

"Yeah, I'm going to say absolutely not."

Raditz, as if he were her father, forbade the girl simply looking for answers from talking to the Ginyu Force until further notice with a stern expression. He had obviously made his mind up and won't be backing down any time soon. 

"Ok, but why the hell not?" Eden slammed her fist on the bed, barely able to make a sound. 

The three male Saiyans glanced at each other for a moment. For a second, she thought they could speak telepathically to each other. 

"Don't I deserve answers?!" she shouted again. 

"If you anger them.. any of them, even just a little bit, you're dead meat," Vegeta growled. "Not even we dare to sass them in front of their faces. You're lucky you weren't put to death when you were first seen, simply because you are a Saiyan, and none of those idiots wants us around. After all, Frieza is scared of us, do you know what that means? We can't risk another worthless encounter with them just because you want to know what happened to that stupid planet."

Eden's gaze averted the Vegeta's and moved to the corner of the room, the bright lava lamp that calmed her to watch. "You're a Prince of an entire race. Aren't you strong enough to protect me?"

Nappa coughed dramatically, hoping to keep the girl from saying anything else. "That's enough."

"Prince of all four Saiyans..." Raditz mumbled low enough to go unnoticed. His heart skipped a beat when he realized he shouldn't have even dared to think that, especially since Vegeta's temper could result in immediate death when you hit a certain weak spot.

Vegeta stomped over and pinned Eden to the bed, he had heard enough of her for one day. "Listen woman, for once, this weak, low class runt is right," he pointed to Raditz. The low class warrior snickered at the timing. "Any of that blasted Ginyu Force squadron members can snap your neck without as much as a glance of pity," he brought his finger to her chin and brought it up, forcing her to meet his eyes. "You are not speaking to them and that is final. You are not in a position to disobey us. With the discovery of another Saiyan survivor, especially a female, we won't be risking your existence for such trivial matters like such."

"I thought you liked feisty,' she thought.

Even though Vegeta was considered short for a Saiyan and with his comrade Nappa almost 2 entire feet taller than him, he still managed to stand a few inches over the malnutritioned girl. She shivered in fear and felt absolutely helpless under him, but her face said otherwise. Her best dead glare shot down Vegeta, yet he sent a deadlier one back. 

"They don't look that tough..." she mumbled. 

"Are you kidding? One of them beat you to a pulp, probably in less than ten seconds," Vegeta sneered.

"Are they really that strong?" Eden raised a brow. "Aren't Saiyans a warrior race? Why can't we just beat their dumbasses?"

Vegeta stared for moment with wide eyes, and then let out a hearty laugh. "You," he slapped a hand on her shoulder and shook. "I like you... but that's not happening. Do you get it now?"

"I just want to know..." she began, but looked away from Vegeta's intense stares. "Nevermind. I get it," she lied. 

Obviously the winner, Vegeta sneered and hopped off of her while Nappa muttered inappropriate comments to Raditz, as per usual. 

"If you really care that much, I can ask them myself," Raditz dramatically sighed.

"You're not that strong either, low class," Nappa scoffed. 

"If they kill me, they'll be in trouble," Raditz smirked.

"Like they give damn," Vegeta laughed. "Or Frieza, for that matter."

When Raditz didn't answer, Vegeta continued with a sly smirk, "What's wrong? Are you finally accepting that you're just a low class?"

Raditz couldn't bring himself to admit it, he didn't want to bow down to him even if he was a Prince, but he didn't want to dare to deny it either. He took the safer route and remained quiet and ignored Vegeta, shifting the subject, "One of you can train with Eden while I do this shit, hopefully she'll stop whining by then. Just try not to accidentally crush her, Nappa."

"No promises," the older Saiyan shrugged. 

"I think we'll wait to train," Vegeta dismissed the idea. "We need food in our systems."

Raditz rolled his eyes discreetly as he shoved the exit open, letting it slam behind him. He wasn't quite hungry because... well, he snuck out before sunrise and ate some snacks. If either of the two stronger Saiyans found out, he would be paying a sensual vision to the dirt, and then the rejuvenation chamber. Shuffling down to the cafeteria, he began his search for the flamboyant squad in the middle of all the aliens of all different shapes, sizes and colors eating and laughing. A few sent a sharp glare his way, as racist as usual. Raditz unwrapped his tail from his waist and swung it around without any shame, making sure to send glares back. 

Being the weakest of the remaining Saiyans... well, second weakest now, he was never treated well by Frieza's men and slaves from all sorts of different planets, or even his own Saiyan comrades. It sent him into a slight bout of depression that he had only recently got out of after he had enjoyed some fun with Nappa and Vegeta, exploring a planet and destroying it. The two weeks of forced vacation General Zarbon and had given them were so boring that the other Saiyans took out their need for destruction on him... 

"I'm going to take a nap," Vegeta announced with pride. He swiftly removed his boots and chest plate, pushing Eden off of the bed so he had space to hop on. She landed on the ground with a harsh thud and swiftly hoisted herself back on her heel. Beginning to understand the concept of difference in power, she stood down. Maybe the future training with these guys will disapprove or approve her theories. 

His eyebrows knitted together, sweat suddenly becoming noticeable on his forehead.   
Since Vegeta, Raditz and Nappa all agreed that the Ginyu Force was a force to be reckoned with, that means they're significantly stronger. When she remembered how she managed to hurt one of them, another assumption came: the red one with long hair was one of the weakest. That, or she was stronger than she thought, but she dismissed that theory since she had never received training against another person before, though she liked the feeling. She knew absolutely nothing about that and it scared her. 

Maybe if she just learned more about her race... she go on and on, thinking and asking questions until she was satisfied or exhausted, but Vegeta, who was now snoring loudly, didn't seem to be available. Raditz was taking a bit long to speak to the Ginyu Force, so she turned to Nappa, the Elite warrior now reading a magazine in the corner of the room. Once she heard Vegeta was snoring quietly, she slowly sat down on the edge of the bed and glanced at Nappa a few more times until she gained the courage to speak. 

"You're Nappa, right?" she broke the silence.

He looked up in annoyance and growled, slightly nodding. "Don't wear it out."

Eden brought her knees up to her face, glancing at Vegeta's sleeping form as she sat on the edge of the bed close to his feet, careful not to wake him. She closed her eyes, attempting to somehow refill her energy while not falling asleep. She noticed a baby blue cloth to his side. She blushed and look away, "Aren't we going to train?" she asked, still not looking straight at the man. After being beaten half to death by a flamboyant, and might she say, attractive red alien and his energy beams, she felt like she needed to increase her strength.

"We're definitely eating first. I'm starving, and you can't train on an empty stomach. We'll start all that shit when Raditz comes back... if he comes back, that good-for-nothing dumbass," Nappa sneered. "If he takes too long, I'm definitely taking all his shit."

"If? Do you think they're going to kill him?"

"I dunno, maybe," he shrugged.

"Don't you care?" Eden's voice raised just a bit, enough to make the man lift his nose out of the magazine.

"Not really," he said simply, "If he dies, it's kinda your fault."

"He insisted," she mumbled. Once he noticed Eden's anger, he laughed. She sure got attached very quickly, and wasn't very good at hiding her emotions. 

Nappa placed the magazine on his lap and held his chin in his hand, "He's just a low class runt. He's really nothing special."

Eden scoffed, "I thought you guys at least respected each other... How petty."

"He's a disgrace. He's only loyal to Prince Vegeta because he's scared of getting beaten half to death by him again."

'Again?' she pondered. What could he have done to make his comrade turn on him? Actually, probably anything. Their relationship didn't seem too healthy, seemingly because Raditz was significantly weaker. She felt shame that they would turn on him for such a reason, but happy that they kept him alive since the Planet's annihilation. 

"I, on the other hand, have actually bonded with the Prince over the years. Raditz was just lucky he was on another planet with Vegeta when the meteor struck. I'm loyal to him, no matter how much the guy pisses me off sometimes."

'A meteor, eh?' Eden thought. It was hard to believe for that that millions of Saiyans couldn't destroy a single meteor before it struck and caused their extinction, but she decided to not ask anymore about it. The two sat in silence for a few seconds.

"I get it..." she said, "Tell me something, though. What are your plans with me?"

"You still don't get it, do you?" 

"I don't," she replied. She might've, but didn't want to believe it. 

"Well, to put it bluntly, the Prince wants to use you to repo—"

Eden felt the bed shift under her, "I'LL EAT YOUR WHOLE RACE!" Vegeta jumped up from his sleep and looked around frantically. "Oh, thank the heavens," he mumbled and placed his palm over his chest. "How long did I sleep?"

"About fifteen minutes," Nappa chuckled.

"Only fifteen?" he growled and looked around the room. Eden flinched as his gaze landed on her and she swiftly hopped off of the bed and bowed, sitting on a chair. He smirked: she finally seemed to understand his position. His attention turned back to the fact that there was someone missing. "That low class runt hasn't come back yet either?"

"Nnnnope," Nappa dragged out and grinned. "I knew this would happen."

"No," Eden stood. "I'm going to go and find him right now," she growled. 

"Nnnnope," Vegeta mocked and grabbed her arm, squatting over the edge of the bed, "You're staying right here, woman," he demanded in a raspy voice. "If Raditz dies like this, then what good is he?"

The girl's eyebrows curled up in slight worry, a slight nausea form worry forming that made her want to lie down for a moment.


	5. Delicacy

"So you're gonna leave me here?" Jeice deadpanned.

"We don't want to disrupt you from your food, we'll be back right away anyways," said Burter.

"Alright... but, one last handshake?" Jeice pleaded.

"I'll be like, five minutes, but... fine," Burter gave in and bumped shoulders with Jeice before performing their handshake. Being apart of the Ginyu Force brought them together over time.

"This is the kind of friendship I want to see in my squadron," Ginyu heartily laughed, "Come on Burter, we have shit to do."

The rest of his squad waved Jeice goodbye. The red skinned wonder sat down and picked up his spoon, having no one to speak to, he sat in silence as he ate. He noticed a bottle of vodka at the edge of the table with more than enough to get drunk with. He positioned his chair so that he wouldn't be tempted by it and sighed.

He heard the door squeak open behind him and immediately looked back, hoping that it was his squadron, but instead it was Raditz. Once he felt the Saiyan look at him, he turned away, grumbling to himself. Murmurs surfaced as usual once Raditz decided to go around each table, trying to avoid any comments. He reached the edge of the table and took a sip of the vodka, cringing a bit before he set it down again. "Hey, Jeice," he called for his attention. 

"Seriously mate?" asked Jeice, the same alien who discovered Eden. Interrupted mid-meal by what he considered a disgrace to Frieza's men, he clenched his fists in an attempt to intimidate him. When he didn't flinch, Jeice stood up and stood up, staring the Saiyan down, even with Raditz almost a foot taller than him. They both knew that the Red Magma could bodyslam and vaporize him off the face of the ship without a second thought. "Can't you see I'm eating here monkey? Scram," he demanded, turning his attention back to his well served bowl of rice and beans. 

It had taken Raditz too long to catch only a single member of the Ginyu Force, so he wasn't about to pass up this slim chance.

"I came here for professional reasons. I don't want to be here either," Raditz growled, "I only have a question. Zarbon asked me to talk to you about it, for some reason."

He had made up a lie to make the situation look better. General Zarbon: one of Frieza's strongest alien warriors. Arguably the most handsome, as flamboyant as the rest, loyal to the Emperor, and also a great Commander. He was worthy of being one of Frieza's right hand men. 

"Zarbon? How bizarre," he sneered, "And on the one day I'm actually on Lord Frieza's ship and not off destroying a planet, I'm forced to speak to you. I guess it's better than to be scourged by either one of them. What do you need to know, monkey? You have ten seconds."

Raditz's eye began to twitch at the term. He ignored his comment. More often than not, a Saiyan would go, ironically, apeshit when called a monkey, but he had been called it for long enough. So much so that he learned to ignore it when needed. 

"Uhh..." for a second, he had forgotten what he had come for. Jeice raised an eyebrow and began to tap his feet. He hated how Raditz's breath smelled like vodka and wanted to get out of his presence as soon as possible. 

"Hurry up, we got people lookin' at us now," he growled, "I don't want a ruined reputation." 

Raditz thought back to Eden's tone in her voice, her eyes close to watering up while demanding for her question to be desperately answered. "What happened to that planet? The one you found the Saiyan girl on."

"Planet Rhi? Give me a break," Jeice scoffed. "It's gone. It's space dust now. Why in the Emperor's name would Zarbon care?"

"I suppose he was thinking of sending Vegeta and I to go destroy it if it wasn't already...?" Raditz made up another lie on the spot, cautiously watching the door for any of his squadron teammates. He believed that Eden would not be satisfied with that answer. She had obviously cared more. He remembered how she shouted in frustration after he left her without a straight answer. The only explanation he could think of for her wanting to know so badly was because she possibly knew somebody who lived there. "And did you take anybody else other than the girl?"

Jeice looked to the side, as if he was thinking. He sat down and shoved a spoonful of rice in his mouth and swallowed, "Cap'n took some other alien girl with him as we were leaving, I haven't got a single idea where she is. He might've changed his mind and killed her before we left, or she could be somewhere on the ship, dead or alive, so don't ask. Are we done?"

"Yes, we are," Raditz deadpanned. He could've sworn he heard multiple people chatting possibly a few feet from the door, so he made a run for it. 

-~~~~~~~~~-

"Eat it."

Nappa, Eden and Vegeta decided to go down to the eating area without Raditz, because frankly, at least one of them was definitely going to pass out soon enough. After Eden couldn't find him in there, she was distracted by a food offer. Eden spaced out staring at the delicious delicacy in front of her. Actually, it was a plain old ham and cheese sandwich, but it was heaven compared to some of the things she was forced to eat to survive while she was stranded. 

She obliged Vegeta's command without a single drop of hesitation and engulfed it entirely within a second, sighing in pleasure. With Nappa to her left and Vegeta to her right, they watched her enjoy the first pleasant meal in a long time. 

Nappa laughed, "Now she's showing true Saiyan tendencies."

"If she keeps eating like this, she'll be built like a real Saiyan warrior in no time," Vegeta grinned and handed the girl another sandwich, which she happily took in her hands. Eden ignored the stares while the two males returned them. 

"Sometimes I want to commit mass genocide in this place," Vegeta admitted, "This is exactly why I prefer eating up in the room."

A seat was pulled to Vegeta's right, and there he was, Raditz, with a sly grin on his face, sitting down and resting his face on his hand, "I did what you wanted," he announced.

"Great!" Eden slammed her palms on the table and abruptly stood up from her seat, emitting a deafening squeaking noise, "Tell me everything."

"We have no time for that you fools, just sit down and eat for heaven's sake!" Vegeta interrupted angrily.

"I wasn't planning to answer anyways," Raditz said with half lidded eyes.

"Why the hell n—" Eden failed to finish her sentence before Vegeta grabbed her by the hips and pushed her down onto the chair. She yelped,  
growling at Nappa's laughter.

"How bold of you, Vegeta."

"Shut up, all of you," he grumbled. 

"I was just expecting something in return for this information," Raditz leaned back and whispered to Eden who was a seat away from him. She growled at him and clenched her fists again her thighs.

"The both of you are being quite bold to-"

"Shut up Nappa, we're going upstairs."

"Wait! I'm sorry Vegeta!" Nappa pleaded.

"Raditz," Eden growled, "Tell me what he said."

"I could've died, Eden," he replied smugly, "I think I should get something in return for it. Either that, or you earn it. You haven't really done anything at all since you've gotten here, have you?"

"You know what- fine! I'll earn it," she snapped.

Vegeta nodded, "This is getting interesting, proceed."

"How will she earn it?" Nappa joined in.

"There are... lots of ways," Raditz chuckled. His stare sent a shock down Eden's spine. She looked back at her empty plate and covered her face, groaning.

Vegeta decided to change his mind when he saw Raditz's face, as if he could read his intentions, "We'll decide this in training! If the girl can... land a powerful blow that doesn't feel like a bee sting on either one of us, she earns it. That's final."

"Aw, I had an idea that was a lot more fun."

"Shut the fuck up Raditz, we're going upstairs now."


	6. Training Starts Now

Leaving the others behind, Vegeta took it upon himself to carefully pick out the perfect Saiyan battle suit for Eden to wear, and a black bodysuit. 

The armor was mandatory for those of Frieza's army, it is also a Saiyan's formal attire, it defines them in a way. Before the extinction of their race, many female Saiyans decided against the bodysuit and instead sported the chestplate alone with pink shorts, but he thought it was too revealing and unfit for a warrior to fight in, not that he had ever cared beforehand. 

He decided to choose full body armor for maximum protection like his own as opposed to a common alternative, like the unnecessary absence of thigh and crotch guards, as well as shoulder pads. He figured that Eden would need all the protection she would get for the training match. 

Eden needed to be dressed as if she were in a real fight or invasion and as well to make a proper first impression on Lord Frieza when they meet. 

Vegeta also slowly began to wonder why Lord Frieza had not called her into his throne room yet. He had not seen either of Frieza's right hand men either; the Generals Zarbon and Dodoria, so he assumed they were on some business or on another planet, which gave them extra time to properly train the girl and deem her worthy of working under Frieza's rule before he found out. 

It was almost nerve wracking to Vegeta. He had no idea what would happen in the future. He knew Frieza had a grudge against Saiyans, joining the other races in ridiculing them. He knew a secret— not only did Frieza hate them, he was afraid. 

The Saiyan girl peeked in as Vegeta removed a pair of white boots to complete the outfit from the shelves. She caught his sharp gaze and quickly ducked away from the door. Vegeta shook his head and set down the armor onto the floor, opening a cabinet. After rummaging, his eyebrows knitted together in anger. "RADITZ?!"

The low class warrior stood up from his comfy seat on the tile floor and stepped cautiously through the door, not wanting to be a punching bag for when Vegeta had his daily outbursts for questionable reasons. "What's the matter?" he asked. 

"There are no scouters in here... where they're supposed to be. Go find one for the girl, I don't have time for this! We'll wait for you in the training arena," Vegeta snapped with a sigh. He set the bodysuit on the shelf, throwing the rest of the armor suit at Eden, bumping shoulders with Raditz on his way out the door and shutting it behind him. He walked down the corridor with Nappa down to the training room and prepared for the worst. 

Raditz sighed and scampered angrily to the back of the room, opening and rummaging through several different cabinets, none of them containing what he wanted. Eden wondered how she would fit into the seemingly rock hard chestplate. Raditz looked back and realized her worries, "Just put it on. It stretches," he told her. 

She raised an eyebrow at the attire and after removing her white v-neck, she threw it over her head. Just like he had said, it stretched to perfectly fit her body. She patted her stomach and chest and jumped, getting used to the new feeling. For some reason, she felt stronger. 

Finally, Raditz stumbled upon a single scouter with a green lens, just like his own. He examined it, twisting it to take a good look at each side and finally held it up. He turned around and his eyes widened, "Er, here's your scouter," he mumbled and walked over to Eden, placing it into her stretched out hand.

She carefully examined it with an even more cautious eye. Holding it up to her eye, she raised an eyebrow at the man. Raditz chuckled and took her hand in his, guiding it over her left eye. Adjusting it to make sure it doesn't fall, he stood dangerously close to her and examined her confused half-smile.

"There," a click surfaced as he stepped away from his work and admired her, "It doesn't one hundred percent fit your ear, but once you're officially recognized as being Frieza's army, we'll get one made just for you. Press the button," he said.

She complied. She heard beeping as a series of foreign numbers and letters appeared on the lens and finally settled. 

"So, what's it say?"

"You can't read it?"

"No, I can..." she hadn't read numbers in the Saiyan language ever since was a baby. She was barely able to make out what it had said, "1000? What does that mean?"

"That's my power level," he grinned and stepped forward. "You can also communicate with those, keep track of time, and it can tell the location of someone," he finished and turned it off for her, "But you don't want anybody, especially Frieza, eavesdropping on you right now."

She was off put by how close his face was to hers, and how his hot breath felt on her nose. She awkwardly looked off to the side and chuckled, pursing her lips in slight embarrassment. Raditz watched her every reaction and move, a bubble of anger hanging around in his abdomen. But why? 

His hair that hung all the way down to his blue boots swayed as he titled his head to the side innocently. He couldn't contain a childish smile to boot. 

She placed a hand on his armor covered chest, not strong enough to even push him away. The action made him raise an eyebrow, completely taking it the wrong way, "Are they rough?" Eden broke the silence and removed her hands, backing a way just a step, "Will they hesitate to kill me if I'm not strong enough?"

"They won't go all out, but don't expect them to go too easy on you," Raditz admitted. "I don't think the Prince would kill you, or even risk killing you by accident."

Eden sighed in anxiety. Raditz noticed how her face had turned a bit pale, but ignored it. It was natural and expected. 

Eden's mind drifted someplace else, trying to dissolve the worried of any potential injuries. suddenly remember something, "Hey, are you going to tell me what Jeice told you?" she asked. "There's no way I'll be able to hurt any one of you."

Raditz simply shrugged and said, "I know that you won't. You're going to have to earn it another way after we train. I have a few ideas." He clicked the red button on the side of his scouter, generating the same foreign numbers as it focused on Eden's energy.

"But I just-"

He read the power level reading he was given. "300."

"T-That's my power level...?" Eden raised an eyebrow. "Is that good?"

"It's more than I expected. You must've been given a zenkai boost when you recovered with the rejuvenation chamber," he mumbled and turned the device off.

"A what boost?"

"A zenkai boost. Saiyans power significantly increases after recovering from near fatal injuries. Granted, your boost was a bit small since you were already quite weak beforehand..."

Eden pouted at his words, though she knew they were true. What could she expect when she had never trained, compared to a warrior who had been fighting and destroying planets left and right ever since they were children?

"But by the time we've trained you enough, the boosts could possibly be the key to your success."

"So... I almost died back there?" her eyes softened in sadness. To think she was so close to passing away was something hard for her to ingest. 

"Yeah," he stated bluntly. "Jeice is strong, and the rest of the Ginyu Force is a force to be reckoned with on their own. Even stronger than Zarbon and Dodoria, it only makes sense that they almost killed you without trying..."

"Jeez," she mumbled. Those guys, stronger than Frieza's right hand men? She didn't expect that, although she hadn't met them herself. She only assumed that an Emperor would have the strongest of the bunch by their side. "Is there anything else about my race I don't know?"

"Well..." he thought and smiled, "We turn into giant Great Apes under a full moon."

"Excuse me?" Eden blinked in disbelief, her hand stilling against her side. 'Is that why we're called monkeys? I thought it was because of the tail...'

"And there is a legend you might want to hear," he said with a sigh, "But that's for much later. I realize the ape thing is quite a big bomb to drop on you, but we need to get going before the Prince has my head," Raditz urged and intertwined his fingers with hers in order to drag her with him easily. 

She was taken aback at first but once she was pulled alongside him with force, she eventually settled into the feeling. He lifted himself a bit off of the ground, which surprised her a bit. He effortlessly carried her with one hand in the air, his calloused hands felt surprisingly comfortable in hers and his skin was a soft as a baby. Eden smiled and followed the Saiyan a few rooms over, ignoring whispers and glares and let herself flow forward. Her heartbeat accelerated just a bit, for the first time in a long while, this might be a little fun... if everything goes the way she wants it to. 

Her legs could barely keep up once he let go, much to her dismay, and reached their destination. 

Raditz slammed open the door, unsure if Vegeta would be able wait a second later. Eden's heart skipped a beat when she saw the two other Saiyans stretching with an impatient glare towards her. Raditz shut the door and introduced her, "This is the training arena."

 

She had to admit: she was expecting a bit more. It was a bit smaller than she expected, though she assumed it was only to preserve room on the ship. It smelled like a hard days work worth of sweat, the oxygen was heavy and thick, and it was quite plain for a training arena for elites. 

"Took you long enough, low class," Vegeta sneered. Eden glared at him, she hated the fact that Raditz was treated like a piece of garbage. Prince or not, she was growing to dislike him. "I know this isn't what you were expecting, girl, but it's fairly new, so it's not looking quite the best quite yet. Are you ready?"

Eden couldn't take her eyes off of the men. She couldn't help but glance at their biceps, barely poking out of their armor. Nappa was the insanely bulky kind of muscular, while Vegeta was smaller and lean, yet the strongest, while Raditz was a mix of the two. She sighed and hung her head to avoid any further awkward examination and prepare for, most likely, a beating. An educational one, hopefully.

She felt weird. All of a sudden, she felt a bit heavy, like the ground was in love with her and it was pulling her down. She dismissed the earlier, less intense dizzy and tired feeling as just a side effect from the rejuvenation chamber, but now that she's well fed and in the right state of mind, it was too noticeable for her to ignore. 

Holding her body up from the floor took an insane amount of work. If this kept up, she definitely wouldn't be able to hold her own in a sparring match. 

"You alright?" Raditz bent down placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. She was kneeling onto the floor, trying her hardest not to fall over completely.

"She's fine," Nappa interrupted and hoisted himself off of the floor. "She must've noticed the gravity difference."

"Huh? What gravity difference?" she asked in confusion.

"The gravity is a bit increased here," explained Vegeta, "You'll also experience an increase in gravity when we land on other planets. Some have x10 the gravity, so training here will prepare you for that. Try standing up straight."

"Woah..." she took in all the information for a second and slowly began to use all of her strength to get back up on her two feet. She barely made it, but she was thrown onto the wall when she couldn't keep her balance. She slid down and took a second to breathe.

"Come on, stand up!" Nappa pressured the girl.

Eden gritted her teeth and shut her eyes, again, using all of her strength to stand. This time, she used the wall as support. Raditz watched with his arms crossed in the corner with his lips pursed. 

"Let her get used to it first. It'll be no use to fight someone who can't stand," Vegeta stopped him.

"Thanks, Vegeta," Eden mumbled and began to outstretch her arms, throwing a few weak and slow punches and kicks to get used to the awkward feeling.

"That's Prince Vegeta," he sneered. "Do twenty push ups in a row, it'll help you get used to the gravity."

She did so, much to her own dismay. She already had trouble doing a single push up, how was she supposed to do twenty with increased gravity?

After a gruesome ten minutes and failing to get past four push ups over and over again, Eden finally got to the ten mark and collapsed on the floor. 

Nappa slammed his fists together, "I think it's about time that we start," he proposed. "She looks pretty ready."

"I guess it'll do for now," agreed Vegeta. 

"She would look better with the armor Celipa used to wear..." Nappa suggested. "I always loved the fact that the girls disliked the shoulder and thigh pads and shit. Made for some amazing eye candy."

'And look what happened to her...' Vegeta thought, "A real warrior wears full body armor no matter their gender," he said, waving his hand at the bald Saiyan and dismissing the vulgar idea, but deep down, he wondered what she would look like. 

The Saiyan known as Celipa who was killed before the explosion of Planet Vegeta along with Raditz's father, by none other than Dodoria, one of Frieza's right hand men, wore a much more revealing set of armor. It was only a chestplate that was missing shoulder pads and instead had a pink bodysuit that never went past her thighs. She assumed never needed the extra protection with a stubborn, cocky attitude that most Saiyans were born with. 

Nappa shrugged, obviously not agreeing.

"Enough with the small talk, let's get going," Vegeta announced and stopped stretching, fixing his gloves.

"Look on the bright side. If they beat you up, you'll get another zenkai boost," Raditz whispered, trying to help but failed miserably.

Vegeta growled and transitioned into his usual fighting stance, glaring intently at Eden while Nappa stood tall and proud with his hands at his side. She looked up and clenched her fists. 

"Remember. Just one blow... TRAINING STARTS NOW!" 

Eden could barely process what had happened before Vegeta disappeared and reappeared in front of her, socking her in the jaw. Of course, one of the few places where she had no protection from his wrath. The force of the blow knocked her back into the wall, a crack forming. Oh, how tiring it was for the girl to once again put all of her energy into standing up, feeling a nasty bruise already forming on her back. She wiped the bright red blood trickling down her mouth, readying herself for another onslaught. That's when she knew that this was probably going to be worse than she ever feared. 

"Don't just stand there, come at me," Vegeta urged. "Don't bore me. Show me what you can do. Get angry!"

It took all of her willpower to lunge at him, his words set off a fire in her stomach, but not one that was strong enough. Without any remorse, he stepped off to the side before her fist could connect to his chest, letting her fall to the ground from dizziness. She hadn't even recovered from the first blow. 

"How pathetic," he grumbled and placed his boot on her back, rubbing and pushing his weight onto her. Her growls of pain only added to his fuel. "Get up. Show some pride, would you?"

Her tail unknowingly wrapped itself around Vegeta's tail, surprising him. He stepped back, almost tripping as the muscle did everything in its power to keep him off balance. Her chance finally came to land a single winning blow.

She traded the tail around his ankle for her shaking hand and lunged at for his face, once again, swinging and missing. It wasn't like she was expecting to land a blow, yet it was demoralizing. She felt absolutely humiliated when Vegeta only laughed and began to choke her, holding her up off of the ground. 

Time seemed to slow down. His egotistical smirk she was forced to look at only wanted to make her shut her eyes and allow him to beat her up until it could finally be over. 

She glanced at Raditz who was staring at the ground instead of watching, and then at Nappa who seemed to be enjoying the show. 

"You need lots of work, girl."

Meanwhile, Eden thought of a trick that was taught to her while she was stranded. If only she could ignore the humiliation for a few seconds and focus on something other than him. 

"I'm not sure if even Frieza would want you working for him," he laughed.

Closing her eyes, she focused her remaining energy into her palm. Vegeta was too focused on making sure to not choke her too badly to notice the deadly ki buildup. With his scouter off, he was not able to sense it. 

"Maybe it'd be best if she fought me, instead," Raditz spoke up. He had obviously noticed the bright yellow ball slowly growing,"It's more of a match."

Vegeta softened his grip at her neck to allow her to breathe, but kept it strong enough to keep her raised. He cocked an eyebrow and turned away from her, "Do you know her power level?" The ignorance he emitted only provoked her further, and everyone knows what happens when a pure blooded Saiyan warrior gets too angry. 

"300," Raditz replied.

"Somehow, I expected less. Even with that boost," Vegeta scoffed and turned back to the girl, who now had a weak Ki blast ready to be fired floating around next to her palm, away from Vegeta's view. What she was taught was that using Ki energy blasts can be catastrophic if used carelessly, depending on the power and skill of the person using it. It can destroy a building, or a galaxy, but considering her power, she didn't think it could even make a dent in Saiyan armor.

But it would still count, wouldn't it?

Eden lifted herself, pushing her boot onto Vegeta's chest and blocking his view for a split second before raising her hand and setting off the energy bomb. The force had surprised them both as the grip around her neck was released and she fell to the ground. She yelped in pain as she hit the same spot on her back again, but quickly scrambled up to her feet, panting for all the air she could get, even through the smoke.


	7. Progress

She coughed, peering over all of the dust, not being able to see a thing. Only able to see a silhouette standing as if nothing happened with clenched fists, she stepped back. She accepted that her attempts were futile, and only hoped Vegeta would recognize her efforts, knowing how unlikely that was. Instead of laughing at her, he began to clap. Sarcastically? She couldn't tell. 

"You know how to use Ki blasts with that power level? Impressive," he congratulated her and let his hands hang by his side once again. The smoke finally cleared, letting her see the narcissistic Saiyan once again.

It had done nothing to him. Same expression, same tone of voice, same smooth skin without a single scar or scratch. The only difference was the small crack on his left shoulder guard. 

"I believe that's well enough of a real warm up. You have a minute break to catch your breath and pull up your frilly stockings until we begin the real training."

"R-Real training?" Eden cowered.

"You're going to learn how to control your Ki, punch, kick, tail, even fly if we have the time," he dragged on. "Come here, Raditz."

Teaching Eden to properly kick proved to be a challenge. Loss of balance, horrid accuracy and other inconsistencies became obstacles for her training. Eventually, they came to the conclusion that kicking someone in the balls was her best bet.

Next, came the worst part, tail training. A Saiyan's tail allows them to transform into Great Apes under the full moon and is immensely sensitive. It will cause them unbearable pain if grabbed, but with enough training, one can become immune to said pain. 

"Keep your tail wrapped around your waist to keep enemies from grabbing it. If they do, you're screwed," Vegeta explained. "We can focus on tail training later. Nappa and I are immune to the pain that stems from having our tail grabbed, but maybe you can train yours with Raditz..."

"I don't need to train my tail!" Raditz grumbled. 

"One day you'll regret it," Nappa said with a sigh. 

Eden's precision was improving with each punch, but was still no match for the other Saiyans, and definitely needed more work before she could even be considered a mere obstacle in combat. Although it stole the breath out of her, she had the willpower to fight anybody that angered her enough. The girl's physical strength would need work, seeing as she was underfed and had never trained. She seemed to be exhibiting habits of a powerhouse fighter. Her anger and pure adrenaline fueled her to keep going the whole time, even after being thrown to the ground countless times by Nappa. 

She ignored the pain and only focuses on the enemy, succeeding only on her energy. Observation and strategizing play a smaller but visible role in her complex style. If only she was physically stronger, this way of fighting would be much more effective. She was obviously not thinking of winning or landing a blow, but only wanted it to be over. 

For someone of her caliber, being sly, deceptive and relying on brains rather than brawns would work out better, especially with her strongest point being her speed, even if that was a bit uncommon for a Saiyan, but this would only mean that she has to work harder for her currently goal of reaching half of Raditz's power level. If she ends up with a perfect combination of the two styles, that's even better, though it's unlikely. 

She was learning quickly for someone who had barely fought in her life, but that was natural for a Saiyan, raised as one or not.

After an onslaught of punches being blocked with one hand from Vegeta and one last roundhouse kick, Eden stood down. 

"You're not trying enough."

As if on cue, she collapsed to the ground and officially was unable to get back up. Her willpower and adrenaline was gone, and the pain began to stack up and hit her all at once. She could've sworn that her wrist was broken. Left to whimper on the ground, she eventually was left unable to move. 

"You went too far, Nappa," Raditz grumbled.

"Can it, low class," the older Saiyan snapped. 

Raditz sighed and bent down to pick up Eden's frail body off of the ground, examining the bruises all over her body, the sweat beaded on her neck and forehead, the cracked armor and scouter laying on the floor, broken. "You did good," he whispered next to her ear.

"Frieza's gonna be mad. We keep destroying the scouters..." Nappa said and scratched the back of his neck nervously. 

"Forget that. Bring the girl to the rejuvenation chamber."

"That's twice in a day," Nappa laughed, "She'll need lots of sleep."

"You're right for once. Stay with her and bring her back up to the room to sleep afterwards, it's past midnight anyways," Vegeta ordered him. 

Eden was one step closer to joining Frieza's army and accompanying the space pirates on their future missions, and that's all she was glad about. Maybe this life could work out, only if she tried hard enough.

With perfect timing, the Emperor was finally back with his right hand men and laid in his throne room, waiting for the sun to rise. Immediately, he was greeted formally and was informed of the discovery so many had feared of for so long.


	8. The Emperor

Frieza, the heartless reptilian overlord was currently quite content with his current position in power, leading one of the most powerful armies in the galaxy after taking control of his father's army that was passed down to him, though sometimes he just wanted a little more like the naturally selfish brute he is. 

He made easy money and gained more power by sending his people off to other planet and prepare them to sell to other weaker overlords, of which he could easily snap their necks with his arms crossed behind his back. Or he could simply claim the planet as his own and use it for other purposes. 

He had more than enough power to take over or destroy any planet or race that he desired. He was truly a spoiled brat. He had absolutely no good in his heart, and not a single person could change that anytime soon. 

His only insecurity stemmed from the Saiyan race. It was more from the legend his father, King Cold had told him one day. His fists clenched unwillingly, a silent crack surfacing as his fingers tightened around the arm of his floating chair. It physically and mentally pained him to be reminded of it every day, unable to keep it out of his system for so long. 

Why in his name was he so afraid of those monkeys, he would think each time. He's the most powerful being known to any man, and it shows. Even Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans cowers at the sight of him.

Not too long ago, Planet Vegeta was exterminated without a care and along with it, it's powerful warriors. He had chosen to spare the lives of Raditz, Vegeta and Nappa afterwards due to them being not even a small threat to him and his position. 

Raditz was a low class, just like his father. Nappa was just an above average warrior who still couldn't even come close to comparing to even Vegeta. They were all weaklings. A pebble in his way. Why waste the energy to destroy them when they could just become slaves?

Vegeta was the only one that could one day seek revenge and be a problem, being King Vegeta's son and the Saiyan prince, though unlikely, but he decided to keep him and the others alive as his pawns. 

Their power and Great Ape forms became of great use to easily take over planets faster than usual. He shook it off. Every cocky King, impudent, weak, cowardly warlord off in some other galaxy, hopeful peasant and depressed child who seeked revenge on him failed and fell like flies to a single flick of his tail, why be nervous?

But for some reason, something about a Saiyan seeking revenge after the inevitably found out that it was, indeed, not a deadly meteor shower that ended their race, especially after hearing of all those legends about them irked him to no end, even after he had forced himself to stop believing in them. So he kept the remaining Saiyans as part of his army for laughs, reassuring him that none of those weaklings could ever amount to the stories he had heard or ever seek revenge and win. 

"My Lord," Zarbon quietly stepped into Frieza's throne room and kneeled, placing a hand over his chest in respect and breaking the tyrants train of thought. Frieza stayed silent and tapped the arm of his chair, a signal for him to continue, "Captain Ginyu has a message for you," he looked up to see the back of the Emperor's floating chair facing the stars out in space. 

"Well, tell him that I'm not quite in the mood and don't feel like dealing with his shit today," replied Lord Frieza. In reality, he was simply staring at his nails, exhausted from the meeting he had just fought through. He was brutally honest.

"He says it's very, very important..." Zarbon said, "My Lord... and I agree."

Frieza let out a long, drawn out sigh. "Fine. Bring him in then, and quickly," he commanded, keeping his nonchalant demeanor. 

Ginyu didn't have news very often for him. He secretly had a huge ego and would have others do such things for him, so this was quite rare, though he had a soft spot for Frieza as well as his own crew. 

"Of course," Zarbon stood and informed Ginyu that his presence was requested before returning to the Frieza's side as usual, glaring at the other General, Dodoria, who rolled his eyes in response. 

Ginyu walked inside, careful with every step and kneeled just as the General did. Frieza quietly prayed that he wouldn't start dancing and posing before he would announce what he came to say.

"I have very important news for you today Lord Frieza," he smiled.

"On with it," Frieza urged, wanting to go back to his leisure, "This better be worth my precious time."

"But of course. I would never waste something so valuable," Ginyu cleared his throat and spoke, "Yesterday morning, the rest of my squad and I went to Planet Rhi like you asked."

"Get on with it."

"We completed our main mission in no time with zero effort needed," he continued but was interrupted.

"Is this just a report? Did you forget that those come later in the day?"

"There's more, My Lord."

"Get on with it," Frieza repeated, his fingers obnoxiously tapping the chair. 

Ginyu's eye twitched in slight frustration but came back to his senses quickly. It was a skill that all soldiers had to learn, and it took time. Some were killed by his short temper before they could even master it, "Along the way, I found another Saiyan in hiding," Ginyu said, taking the credit. 

The room fell dead quiet. You could hear an alien scream in space if you tried hard enough. 

None of the concerned army members in the room being able to see Frieza's expression as his throne was turned made the tension worse. 

"Wha..." Dodoria mumbled, "Like, for real? An actual monkey?"

Zarbon stayed quiet, though dumbfounded. He was never fond of Saiyans himself, like the others, but his hatred was more deep rooted because of his bad history with Vegeta. He wasn't very happy about possibly having to deal with another. 

"I see..." Lord Frieza mumbled, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. The atmosphere darkened, and everyone could feel it. "I trust this isn't a joke."

"You know I'm not the joker type, at least when it comes to these types of things, My Lord," Ginyu replied. 

"That is exactly why I am concerned. Another Saiyan... where is this little discovery?"

"Er... I left them in the rejuvenation chamber, I believe..."

"Since when?"

"This morning..."

Frieza stopped for a moment, "And with who did you live them?"

Ginyu's heart stopped for a moment as he realized his mistake. 

Zarbon shook his head and sighed, dragging his palm across his face. He already had a hunch. 

"With who, Ginyu?"

"W-With... with Raditz, sir. He was the only one available at the time," Ginyu answered nervously, "I would usually leave them with Appule, but he wasn't anywhere. I was to attend training with the Force, so I couldn't watch her myself or find them—"

"Did you say her?"

"Yes."

Frieza's arm began to twitch with growing anger and confusion, "A... female Saiyan. That you found on a planet I had sent you on... and left with another male Saiyan while you went and danced with your crew... for an entire day instead of keeping her locked somewhere waiting for my return and decision. Is this what you're telling me?"

"Lord Frieza, please forgive me. I didn't mean to—"

"Ginyu, you are lucky. Very, very lucky that you are one of my strongest warriors," Frieza's tone lowered as his chair began to turn to face the scared alien still kneeling. Clearly, he was about to burst any second. 

He couldn't lie: he was terrified. Even if he built a decently fair rapport with Frieza, his cold bloodedness was once again revealed to him, drowning some of his spirits. Frieza had repeatedly told him that he was an embarrassment with the poses and dances he would do with his squad, but it was all in good fun. He had grown fond of Frieza. 

"We're going to have to have a talk later on. Now, if I don't have that monkey in front of me by morning, I'll have absolutely no problem finding a new Captain and joining your squad in mourning."

He didn't believe it. He didn't want to believe that Frieza would kill and replace him with a probably inadequate leader. He couldn't have that. Leaving his squad without leader with the right amount of style was something he would never forgive himself for, even in the afterlife on the line to King Yama. 

-VvV-

That night, Eden had the most blissful sleep she had ever experienced. Having to sleep on the dirty cement on the smelly, creepy buildings, afraid of the abundance of bugs that crawled around in the dying grass for so long had proved to be draining. 

 

The three Saiyans shamelessly got a good look at her body while transferring her back to the room after she had been released from the rejuvenation chamber. 

She was so sleepy that even after recovering, she passed out in Raditz's arms. They agreed that she still needed to be fed and trained more before Vegeta aggressively took her away from their hungry eyes almost protectively and dressed her unconscious body with a flimsy, white, dirty cloth, laid her down on the only bed in the room and moved the hair out of her face. 

Vegeta especially wondered about her body and her potential ability to birth children in the future. It was selfish of him, but it was all he cared about at that moment, and he thought nothing bad of it. 

Recreating the Saiyan race was something he had to forget the possibility of until that day. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and he, as the Prince, believed it was his sole responsibility, and he would not let the role go to somebody else. He believed his blood should continue to live on if it was to repopulate. Who else?

The Saiyans usually took turns sleeping on the only bed in the room. Sometimes, even when it was another's turn, Vegeta would get tired of the back pains and push them off, taking it for himself, but today, none of them fought for Eden's place on it. 

She moved quite a bit in her sleep, and the guys picked that up quickly. Different positions, legs twitching and taking up more space overtime. 

Nappa snored over the counter, his hand over an empty bottle of beer while Vegeta sat crossed legged, eyes closed and softly breathing on the other side. 

Raditz laid as far away from them as possible in front of the bed, unable to sleep over the snoring and Eden's constant flailing. He looked up at her to see her finally stop moving, watching her chest rise and fall and a slight curl of her lips. 

He wondered what she was dreaming of as he placed his head on his hand and sighed. Raditz could never sleep when it wasn't his turn on the bed, which led to lots of sleepless nights which also led to scolding when he was too tired to train. 

He cautiously looked over in Vegeta's direction, finding it creepy that he can sleep while sitting straight up.

Making sure he was asleep, Raditz climbed onto the bed next to Eden and he checked the clock and saw that there were only 2 hours left until the three usually awoke. He could only pray he'd wake up before so he can leave in time. 

He moved over as far away from her as possible and faced away but not before catching a glimpse of how her chest moved up and down softly in deep sleep, hoping she wouldn't kick him off as he settled on the edge of the bed. He felt himself getting sleepier than ever in a short amount of time. 

Eden's soft breathing: It made him comfortable and took him back to the days he would fly out with Vegeta on missions when he was a bit less cocky, have fun with his other Saiyan comrades and take over planets with no problem. 

The days Raditz had his parents by his side, although he never showed how much he loved them and took them for granted. When his brother was born as a low class warrior and then sent off in a pod, right before Planet Vegeta exploded while Raditz didn't have a care in the world. 

He wondered if his brother was still alive. If he was out in space or stranded, dead or alive. He swept the thoughts out of his mind and thought of a calm breeze in a hot spring. His eyelids fluttered closed and he transitioned to a deep sleep to the sound of Eden's breathing and the fantasy of total peace. 

What seemed to be minutes later for him, he woke up to a still dark and quiet room as if he had never fell asleep, but he was laying on his side and there was something around his waist. It only took a second for him to realize and for his heart to skip a beat.

He tilted his head enough to see Eden's forehead pressed into his long, soft hair, her arm trailing down to snake down and rub unconsciously on his stomach.

She moaned softly in her sleep, leaning in closer to the man which made him flinch. Her stomach rubbed into his tail. His teeth clenched with slight pain and with an underlying layer of something he couldn't identify: just a bit more and he would jump up, waking up everybody in the room. As if she knew, she backed away and the awkward feeling on the furry vertebrae was gone, letting him relax. 

"Sweet merciful..." Raditz mumbled as Eden's hand unconsciously went to explore his abs and mumbling incoherent nothings, all the while the man was pursing his lips, not knowing what to do. It didn't help that he was stripped down only to his black boxers. 

As her fingertips traced every line marked on his chest with a sultry, drunken grin, her lips still pressed to his spiky hair and her leg over him, he became more anxious by the moment, and not to mention a bit... excited. 

It was something that he couldn't be helped from someone like him. His real personality was that of a heartless warrior when on duty, other times a horny comedian who has underlying insecurities and a bit of a soft side. He was a real life enigma, as well as Vegeta. 

His hand slowly went to grab her wrist, hoping to leave her grasp and skillfully whisk away. The moment he latched on, he felt the girl flinch, and a deafening scream filled his ears. 

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Eden screeched and covered herself with the blankets. From the scare, Raditz found himself falling backwards off the bed and rubbing his head in anger as he stood. 

"Shut up!" he hissed and leaped to cover her mouth, looming over her almost threateningly, absolutely astonished that her call hadn't woke Vegeta. 

Nappa was such a deep sleeper that it was understandable and even expected. By sheer luck, Vegeta only flinched and continued to snore softly in the corner. 

Eden began to struggle. Her words became incoherent against his calloused hand that left no opening for her to cry. 

His eyes sent a message to her. Something along the lines of, 'for everyone's sake, just shut up for a second.'

She calmed down. He felt her body shift as she did, and he sighed in relief. Eden turned away, feeling too many things at once as she looked at the half naked man hovering above her with a pissed yet confused expression. 

She used her legs to peddle away and he allowed her too. She pulled the covers over her cheeks, hoping to hide the tinge of pink as she laid her head on the pillow. 

"Care to explain?"

Raditz stayed silent for a moment and then spoke, "Not really, but I will because I know how you women are..."

She didn't speak, but her eye twitching did the work for her. He scoffed cockily. 

"I wanted to sleep on the bed for once. I wake up to you cuddling and touching me for some ungodly reason. I tried to stop you but you woke up screaming. The end," he half whispered, half shouted with furrowed brows. 

"I— what?" Eden's blush returned. She pulled the covers up and looked away. "No way I did that. Stop lying."

Raditz growled, pretending to be unfazed by her actions. "Whatever. Just go back to sleep then."

"I'm not sleepy. What time is it?" she sat up and asked as he moved the hair from her eyes.

"Way too early. Now sleep," he demanded and pushed her back down.

She whined and turned on her side. He sighed.

"I'm the fucking Prince bitch..." mumbled Vegeta. The two jumped before they realized he was talking in his sleep. "So suck my dick."

Raditz and Eden could barely stifle their childish laughter before hitting the pillows once again. 

—VvV—

"One hundred ninety two..." Vegeta grunted, sweat beading his chest and pushing his body weight up off of the ground in a forceful push-up as the others stretched and yawned.

"Isn't it a little too early for that?" Nappa asked and  raised an eyebrow at him.

Raditz had nearly faced death. He was woken up by Vegeta's sleep talking a minute before the two had woken up. If Raditz hadn't woken up then, that would've been it. Luckily, this time, there was no clingy Saiyan girl to haul off of him and scream.

"Never. We should be expecting a mission today now that Frieza is back," said Vegeta. "I will be prepared while you numbskulls can do whatever you want."

"I wish that fatass Dodoria and would give us some more time to relax sometimes," Nappa said and stretched. "Aren't any of you thinking about the fact that Frieza is eventually going to find out about Eden, probably today?"

"We can deal with that later. Let's just go down to eat before we're sent off or told off on an empty stomach," Vegeta urged and stood. 

"What's gonna happen when he finds out?" she asked. None answered, so she hung her head. They began to take off their night clothes. 

It took all of her might for Eden not to stare. I mean, three bulky and muscular men changing into their armor right in front of her? When they began to reach for their boxers, she finally pulled the covers over her eyes. 

"You can look. We won't mind," she heard Raditz say. She could almost hear his smirk, if that's possible. 

"No thanks," she replied immediately. 

"She'll get used to it and eventually join us," Vegeta declared. "So give it time," he added with confidence. 

"I'm really impatient, though," Raditz said innocently. 

"We know," Nappa grumbled with venom in his voice. 

Her armor was thrown onto her lap. Covering herself with the sheets, she took off her flimsy dress-like cloth and slid the chestpiece on.

Nappa grinned, "You think we should tell her that the sheet is see-through?"

Eden yelped and pulled a pillow from behind her and covered herself, growling over the obnoxious laughter.

"C'mon, let's go and eat," Vegeta said with a sigh. 

Once Eden finished changing and they got to the canteen, it was already boasting with laughter and life unlike the day before. Lots of people had come back from missions overnight, and it was still early in the day. Now it felt like a real home when you looked at all the smiles and fun, almost. If only she and the others were treated like them...

"Come and pick something out," Vegeta offered. Eden agreed and walked with him to the window where Dodoria was standing, handing out food with a sullen, bored look on his face. Nappa and Raditz were ordering from an indigo-skinned alien a few feet away. 

The pink alien turned to him, "What would you like today your highness?" he asked sarcastically. He'd much rather be out fighting. A true mindless brute. 

Vegeta noticed Eden staring at the huge slab of meat behind the counter. 

"Cooked meat, you fat shit," Vegeta smiled and pointed at it. Though he liked the 'your highness'. 

Eden eyed the delicacy. She imagined how good it would taste. To her, there was nothing better than the sandwich she had eaten the day before. Her mouth watered. 

"I'm just trying to be nice you damn monkey." 

"What, did Frieza beat sense into your ass last night?" Vegeta mumbled.

Dodoria growled, "Ten dollars, just for that."

"And there goes my monthly paycheck," Vegeta mumbled and slid the ten dollar bill over. Dodoria laughed mockingly before slamming it on a plate and throwing it over the counter. Vegeta caught it with a dead look in his eyes. "I see you're in quite a good mood today."

Eden's face hovered over it, smelling it. She immediately fell in love and reached for it, but Vegeta held it up in the air.

"I know you're excited to try it, but wait just a second."

"I could've sworn I heard monkey over here," Eden recognized Nappa's gruff voice as he sauntered over and put an arm over Eden. He had given up on trying to order from the other guy, he had an especially large hatred to Saiyans, so he decided to take Vegeta's food. 

"She has two boyfriends? Shocking. And yes, I called Vegeta a monkey. Now pull up your thongs, grab your shit, go sit back down and eat. There's a line forming and I know you monkeys love to eat."

The three were pushed out of line before any one of them could fire back, and Dodoria was already tending to them. All that could be done was listening to and agreeing with Nappa's endless rants about how much he hated the based general.

Going to their usual table, which was never inhabited beforehand because no one ever wanted to sit where a Saiyan had, Raditz was waiting for them and seemingly yelling at someone sitting at the table across. His face was red, presumably from anger. 

"MIND YOUR BUSINESS DIPSHIT!"

"FUCK OFF, MONKEY!"

Raditz's chair abruptly dragged across the floor as he stood up with force. The chatter in the canteen slowed to a halt. All eyes were on him. 

"When are they going to ban Saiyans from this place?" mumbled an irrelevant alien. "They just cause trouble."

"Whoever said that, shut the fuck up!" Nappa exclaimed and raised his fist at them. "I'll beat your ass!"

"Now, now, just ignore them boys," Vegeta urged. "We need to tone down on our weekly lunch fights." 

"Is this a regular thing?" Eden cowered behind Vegeta. He stayed silent and pursed his lips, nodding. 

"Fuck you too, pansy!" yelled another alien, pointing straight at Vegeta. "You and your girlfriend can suck a dick! We don't want you here, don't you get it?!"

"Don't ignore them," Vegeta deadpanned. He dodged a piece of bread flying straight for his face.   
Eden managed to duck in time, letting it hit somebody behind, their startled yelp causing a few giggles.

"WHO THE FUCK WAS THAT?" yelled Dodoria from behind the counter. "I SWEAR TO FUCK."

Everyone pointed to Vegeta. Dumbfounded, he began to stutter and grow red in the face. If if were anyone else, he would've kicked their face in, but this was Dodoria we're talking about. 

Eden quietly stepped out of the way to the corner of the canteen, unnoticed, leaving Vegeta to fend for himself. Over the course of a few minutes, food was being thrown, aliens were jumping over tables and punching each other in the face. 

Vegeta managed to fend off against the lower class with ease while Nappa showed absolutely no mercy, a few cracks in the wall stemming from his brutality. 

Raditz eventually joined in on the fun, actually having some trouble but winning in the end. He seemed to have improved, taking less punches and throwing more and more of them down. 

Dodoria calmed himself, having already a strike from Frieza the last time he was ultimately the cause of a lunch fight. How was he going to explain this? 

'Well... I guess I have one strike left,' he thought shrugging. 

"Are you not going to join?" Cui, the indigo skinned alien, another one of Frieza's most elite warriors asked, already flying over the counter. 

"Nah, these are fun to watch. I don't want to accidentally kill someone and get my ass beat by Frieza," Dodoria replied.

"Suit yourself," Cui flew over to the commotion and punched a random alien square in the face and then threw him across the room.

"Guys..." Eden whimpered from the corner. She watched each of them and how easily they overpowered the inferior races. She realized how strong the Generals, Ginyu Force, other elite warriors and Frieza himself must be to make them cower, work for them and take all of their insults every day without a fist fight. 

She covered her ears. It was getting too much to bear. There was no way she could fight... right? She had armor, and she had just trained, feeling better than ever after leaving the rejuvenation chamber again. 

One step was what she took, her fist clenched as she decided was ready to defend the others, but all that came to a halt when a somehow familiar hand was placed on her shoulder and she was pulled backwards. 

With all the chaos, no one noticed, not even the Saiyans as they pulled her out of the canteen and dragged her through the hallway, a deadly amount of Ki pressed to her temple, ready to fire to keep her quiet.


	9. Frieza’s Revelation

Raditz had proven himself in a blind rage that day. All of his focus was on the men he was giving a beating to. He couldn't hear and saw entirely in red. What he had said to him was enough to bring out all of the anxiety, sadness induced unyielding rage. 

He kicked the tall green alien in between his legs and choked him until he fell limp. A pool of blood coated the entire canteen floor. They would definitely be hearing about it soon, but that wasn't important to them. 

'At least Frieza shouldn't be here until nightfall to hear about this mess...' Raditz sighed. At least, that's what he had overheard. 'We also have enough time to do something about Eden beforehand.'

"Raditz!" Cui exclaimed and clapped enthusiastically after dropping a half-dead human soldier to the floor. "You're growing up!"

"Shut the fuck up Cui," he replied in a raspy voice.

Cui knew he was angry since Raditz normally wouldn't talk like that to him. After all, Cui was stronger than even Vegeta, though the Prince was catching up. Knowing it wasn't worth to argue about it, the indigo skinned alien only crossed his arms and smirked at the lower class in response.

Raditz's senses came back as he turned away from him. He flinched at the level of chaos and noise that had erupted in the short amount of time. He stepped away from the crowd for a moment. He saw Vegeta, overpowering most of them as usual, as well as Nappa..

'Shit.. where is she?' Raditz tilted his head, tossing aside a weak soldier who had come running at him. Every second that passed, he grew more and more anxious. She wasn't fit to be in the middle of a ruthless lunch battle on Frieza's ship. 

"Raditz!" Vegeta exclaimed as he pushed an alien to the side, he bounced off the wall with a thump and fell onto the ground harshly. "Where's the girl?"

"I..." 

Sweat beaded on his forehead. The fact that he had no answer was horrifying to both of them. 

Vegeta looked around for a moment, pushing aside a few other men. One successfully managed to tackle him. "I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU VEGETA!" they yelled. 

Vegeta kicked them where the sun doesn't shine, enraged, and shuffled out of the way. He had no time for any of this. 

He finally rolled and pulled Raditz out of the canteen and into the now empty corridor. He slammed him against the hard wall behind him, "Where the hell is she? Did you just let her wander off?!"

"I don't know..." Raditz huffed, as if it was obvious.  "But fighting now won't help us find her."

A shared, unnecessarily long stare came next. It took everything in his power for Vegeta to not deck Raditz in the face. His fists clenched and he felt bubbling anger inside of him.

"I know you're mad at me for letting her out of my sight," Raditz held his hands up, though he wasn't aware it was his job to look after her in the first place. "But just hear me out-"

"I have a better idea," Vegeta growled.

"Vegeta..." Raditz's gaze stayed sharp.

"Listen to me," The Prince pinned Raditz to the wall, his gloved hand wrapped around his neck. He was awaiting for his directions, but they never came. 

Vegeta eventually let him go when he noticed his pathetic, worried expression and sighed. He crossed his arms and turned away from him. After a short mental battle, Vegeta ended up failing to contain his explosive temper again. 

"I'll get Nappa to help me find her while you writhe on the ground in agony, you pathetic excuse of a Saiyan."

How unfortunate for our poor Raditz. 

-VvV-

They led Eden into a room, Ki making an irritable noise too close to her ear. Her eyes caught sight of the persons purple skin and horns, who she then concluded was Captain Ginyu, someone who she had not wanted to see again. 

She could hear her heart pound in a concerningly erratic that began to hurt her chest out of pure nervousness. The feeling wasn't something she was used to: it was terrifying. She felt like fainting and giving up, but she forced her weakened body to move along. 

The door behind her creaked and eventually was shut closed by Zarbon, who led them both in. He whispered something in Ginyu's ear.

The heavy silence began to make her twitch nervously. In a second, she could be gone and she wouldn't even know it. 

Ginyu and Zarbon both kneeled and stared daggers at Eden. She copied them hastily. 

"Here she is, Lord Frieza, as promised," Ginyu smiled, incredibly relieved. 

"Good, Ginyu," Frieza said. His tail moved to the side a bit. "You know, I haven't seen a female saiyan in many, many years," Frieza broke the silence. His calm demeanor scared her, though he sounded strained, like he was holding back. "And I certainly didn't expect to see one now in the same room as I."

"That was in record time, wasn't it Lord Frieza?" Ginyu grinned and struck a pose. "Maybe this calls for my victory dance."

"Oh PLEASE do not," Frieza ran his hand through his face. "Now is not the time."

"My apologies. Maybe later?" Ginyu offered and bowed.

Frieza's eye twitched. "Just shut up," he mumbled and turned his attention back to the girl. "Anyway, I do suppose it should be weird of me to expect it since I was responsible for your race's extinction," he added nonchalantly.

Eden's already weakened heart skipped a beat. She was truly dealing with a merciless tyrant with absolutely no concern or heart to speak of. There was no changing him. 

She knew there was something fishy about the reason for the destruction of Planet Vegeta and the extinction of an entire warrior race. The people's contempt for this man was now justified to her.

A meteor... Now that she really thinks about it, it was laughable. Everyone 'believed, or accepted' Frieza's explanation and didn't have more than a moment of doubt, because, what's the point of defying him? 

"Of course, no one else knows this. I wouldn't want the last remaining Saiyans to fully turn on me when they're so good at destroying planets for me. That would be most unpleasant and quite annoying."

Eden got off of her knees, "Then.. w-why are you telling me this?"

Zarbon and Ginyu were surprised of her bravery, but then again, this was their first meeting. 

Frieza chuckled, his hand briefly hovering over his mouth, "Because I'm sure you won't tell anyone. Of course, you can't if you're dead, after all," he stated bluntly. 

Eden had no doubt in her mind that she was going to die in the next few minutes. Gone. Cease to exist. Buried or thrown into a lake to be forever forgotten. She had accepted it. She lived quite a miserable life with only a few highlights, but someone had to do it so the others could go on and live a fulfilled and love filled life. 'A true sacrifice to balance the odds,' she thought. A different kind of mindset, but reassuring in a sense. 

Though she couldn't help but wonder: Why hadn't there been precautions taken to protect her if this Emperor had been so set on making sure the Saiyan race stays inferior? Surely the others should have known. 

"Why... do you look so familiar?" Frieza asked, as if awaiting a clear answer from her. 

"Huh?" Eden's voice managed to whine out. 

Ginyu growed in her direction. Zarbon stayed leaned against the wall, eyes closed, listening closely. One wrong move and she's dead even sooner than they all thought. 

Frieza finally turned his seat around, finally facing Eden. "Your features strongly resemble those of two Saiyans I had quite some hatred for. Now that I think of it, the timeline would match up perfectly," he hung his head. "Yes, yes. I remember now."

Eden perked up. She was considering the possibility he knew her parents. Her parents... she didn't remember a thing about them. Hearing of them before she died was acceptable enough to her. Someone had loved her, at least she hoped. 

"It's hard to keep track of all those worthless monkeys and their impudent children anyhow," he sighed. 

"My Lord, I believe you're thinking of Lentil and.. Tep.. Tepary? Tepal? No idea, I didn't really care to learn," Zarbon admitted. 

Frieza pressed his finger to his chin and continued to ramble on. "Ah, I believe you're correct. They were quite strong, yes. Barely elite warriors, but even more hot-headed than the usual Saiyan, which is why I had Zarbon kill them. Monkeys were more easily replaceable back then."

Zarbon pursed his lips and tapped his feet against the floor. His gaze wandered to Eden's frozen state for a moment. 

"Indeed those two were powerful!" Ginyu interrupted. "At one point they even rivalled me and my squad."

Frieza nodded, "They did. But they were still no match. After all, they were just-"

"Monkeys, my Lord?" Ginyu smiled.

"You're on thin ice, Ginyu. But you're correct."

Frieza directed his attention back to the Saiyan girl. "Now, enough talking... What to do with you?" he pondered, amused by her absolutely livid yet terrified expression. 

Ginyu had a bad feeling. "Er, can I leave, my Lord? With your permission, of course. I believe that my squad needs me right n-"

"Please, do leave," Frieza shooed him away. He complied with no hesitation. Frieza then smiled, "Having the audacity to come into my ship and use our healing pods, then running off with those other monkeys warrants a proper punishment, no?"

He hopped out of his chair, an action that surprised even himself. Usually, he would order someone to kill a subject for him, or not even pay them attention as he simply blew them up without looking. 

He stepped towards her, keeping eye contact. He slapped her across the face with his tail, a high pitched scream surfacing from her as she slid across the floor and held her cheek. She wasn't ready for any torment this thing was going to give her.

His tail wrapped around her neck and brought her up to meet his gaze. "Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. Killing you slowly will surely satisfy my intense urge to kill for a while."

"I don't mean to intrude, my Lord, but it's time for you to listen to the mission reports..." Zarbon stated, unfazed in the sight in front of him. 

"You can say 'hurry the fuck up', I don't mind," Frieza mumbled with a sigh. The appendage around her neck tightened. She slowly began to turn blue and scratch and pull at the pink entity, but to no avail. His sickening smile engrained itself into her mind.

He raised his finger, a pink Ki ball forming as he inched closer to the girl's fragile face. Eden choked, a single tear ran down her cheek. She tried her best not to cry. Dying while doing so is not what she wanted to be remembered by. 

"I guess I'll have to make this quicker than I wanted it to be," he said. 

Mocking him, she tilted her face forward closer to the ball of energy, beckoning for him to shoot with a hand motion and a forced smirk: Another action that surprised those in the room. May as well make her last moments memorable. 

Frieza chuckled at her attempt of bravery and an honorable death. The Emperor added more of his intense energy to the blast, so much that she could feel it even without her scouter. His overwhelming power was the perfect definition of a powerful ruler and inevitable death. 

"Any last words?" he asked and loosened his tail's hold on her neck a bit, allowing her to speak. 

"Y-Yeah," she stammered, violently coughing and fighting for every breath. "Fuck you... and everything y-you stand for, you reptile bitchass."

Frieza chuckled. At first, barely loud enough to hear, and then had an outburst, holding his chest. He calmed down within a second and coughed, and shifting the Ki to subside in front of her nose, re-tightening the grip on her neck, "I respect that. If I were you, I would say the exact same thing."

Eden's eyes fluttered closed as she let out what she believed to her last chuckle.


	10. What’s Done is Done

Note from the Author:   
Sorry for the little hiatus. This book is coming back strong now!! I've been intensely planning it during my little break. We're getting more seriously into this now, so hang on tight. We've been peaceful here long enough. Even I'm excited! This chapter is kind of one big transition to the next little thing we got going on in here. You must no longer be patient.

 

 

One strangled breath, and then another. It was absolute torture to breathe in just a tickle of fresh air. What did she do do deserve this? Was her life really destined to take this path? Every breath she mustered feels like a rusty knife being driven, prodded and twisted in her lungs, enjoying the dull look in her eyes and her need to scream even though nothing ever came out.

And just when she met some people whom she actually began to become fond of in such a short amount of time. It might have been for the better that no one got too attached. With Frieza over a man’s shoulder, you can never be attached to anyone’s life: not even your own. 

One could only imagine Eden’s surprise when she was still alive as the Ki signal disappeared completely, a sharp pain in her stomach made her eyes widen, and her body hit the floor. The air knocked completely out of her lungs, she spent the next few seconds pathetically, by the Emperor’s standards, gasping for air and grasping for dear life. 

The last thing she would do was beg for her life, so she then lay there. Had he lost his grip? Had he done the deed and she was just slowly dying on the floor? Had he changed his mind in the last second? She had been so disoriented that she couldn’t hear anything but a loud ringing sound and could see nothing but a blur. 

Two figures with and a plurality behind opened the door, a purple blob she assumed was Ginyu stepped aside, giving them room. They must be important people. And there she was, writhing on the floor, unable to feel anything. 

No. She couldn’t die. She wouldn’t die: she had just learned her parent’s names. Even if Frieza had told her that he had ordered Zarbon to execute them, she wanted to know more about her past, why she was sent away, what her parents were like...

She heard talking, but more like mumbling. Soon enough, the ringing became low enough for her to make out a few sentences.

“What’s… she…” 

Eden tried to move, but her body didn’t comply. Only little shakes of her arm was possible, and every twitch sent a shock down her spine. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. She only wondered what he must’ve done to render her so useless without her even knowing. 

“Father, I’m in the middle of teaching this cretin a well deserved lesson.”

“Just leave her be, for now,” said the voice. 

“But father-”

“Frieza.”

The Emperor stood back with a sigh and a grumble, staring off into space.

His father, Cold stepped in the doorway, while a few people were hunched together behind him. Eden could barely move her head enough to see half of their taller bodies. 

The figures in back of them were whispering to each other, the hall too dark to see their faces. She wondered who any of them were, and why of them would want her alive. She silently thanked them, a tear rolled down her pale cheek. Even if it was not for long, she might have a chance to say goodbye, just maybe. Each and every person in the room kneeled, except for Frieza. 

Cold stepped in front of the weak girl. “What’s your name?”

When her voice didn’t seem to obey her, Zarbon politely rose his head, hand hovering over his chest in respect and answered for her. “She gave herself the name Eden, from what I’ve heard from the other alive Saiyans. Her real name, I’m not so sure of.” He lightly picked up his cape and stood along with the others, not liking when it got dirty and touched the ground as Cold gestured for them to stand. 

“I see.” Cold looked down at her as she still squirmed and twitched, using all of the energy left in her small frame to try and move away, but to no avail. “So, why were you about to execute her?”

“Do I need explanation, father? Look at her tail. She’s a female Saiyan we’ve never known was alive until now,” Frieza replied, as if the answer was plain and simple.

“Raditz, Nappa and Vegeta have proven themselves as Saiyans to live a little longer, haven’t they?” Cold raised a brow and laughed. “Why can’t you give her the same chance?”

“Father—! What if they have babies or whatever the hell—”

“Then just kill the baby. It’s simple.”

“I don’t see the point in leaving her alive. I’m sure Vegeta will try anything in a blind attempt.”

“It wouldn’t work.” Cold held up the girl by her tail, sending another jolt of agonizing pain down her spine. She really wished that she had done some more intense tail training before this as he swung her body around a bit, her body limp and frail. Eden was really tired of getting beaten up. “She can become an elite warrior like the other Saiyans yet stay below the us like the rest. We’ve been lacking some firepower ever since the…”

“I know, I know.” Frieza sighed dramatically. “She’s weak, though. She’s of no use and only poses a threat of repopulation, no matter how small of a chance that they’re successful at it. I don’t want any of that.”

“Are you really that paranoid about a stupid legend, son?” 

Frieza froze, his cheeks quite a bit red from the slight embarrassment from realizing his Generals and Eden were still watching the entire thing unfold. Cold unfastened his grip on her tail, letting her bounce off the ground and yelp in pain and twitch slightly, groaning. 

“Father…” Frieza growled and stepped backwards onto his throne once again. “Fine. If she manages to prove herself to be apart of the elite army in time, then it’s all fair game, I suppose. If she doesn’t amount to it, then I don’t care anymore.”

“Fair enough. How nice of you to come around.” Cold lowered his gaze to the girl on the ground who was beginning to stand, using all of her might to push her weight up off of the chilly ground. 

“She can’t even get up,” Frieza scoffed and mumbled under his breath. “Ginyu, will you take her outside and this time, lock her up until later. I need to talk with those other monkey scum as well, so bring them here when you can.”

“Of course.” Ginyu picked Eden up. Well, more like threw her onto her feet, to which she forcibly forced herself not to stumble and fall back down. Her breathing slowly returned to normal as she tried to calm her speeding heart: those were the worst few minutes of her life. The horned alien pushed her along to the door and into the hall. 

One of the elites behind Cold, known as Salza, eyed the Captain and Eden for a moment before returning his gaze to the tall father of the Emperor in front of him, slightly uncomfortable and bored and would much rather be either killing, eating or sleeping. What he did was supposed to be harmless, and now he’s being punished with this. 

“Zarbon, you can go for now, I’ll call when we’re done,” ordered Frieza. 

“Actually, you, head to the cafeteria and clean up there. There’s quite a racket,” Cold interrupted. The Prince nodded and curtsied, following Ginyu.

“So what’s the real reason you’re here, father?” Frieza narrowed his gaze. 

“I just wanted to see my son. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I’ve lost count of the days.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Frieza only turned his head and crossed his arms. Even as a child, he was less stubborn and more obedient to his father. Cold didn’t mind. In fact, it amused him. 

“Your dear brother, Cooler. He wanted to come to talk to you, I convinced him it was simply strict business. He gets bored otherwise, but he and his ship should not be too far. If you want, I could still call him over—”

“PLEASE no. I’m not in the mood.”

Cold laughed. “Ah, right, I almost forgot about your little childish rivalry.”

“He’s the one always trying to prove himself. If he was here, he’d probably try to blow up my ship,” Frieza growled at the thought. 

“I think you’re mixing yourself up,” Cold muttered. “Anyways, you may have noticed these gentlemen behind me at the doorway.” He gestured to the three men who slowly began to step forward. “You can come in now. Please don’t do any poses or dances this time. I’m not in the mood either.”

“Got it,” the middle one said. “I’m Commander Salza, we’re part of Cooler’s Armored Squadron. These are my teammates Neiz and Doore.”

Frieza raised an eyebrow, unamused. His gaze returned to his father’s sly smile. “And why are they here?”

“Don’t be so indifferent, Frieza. Long story short: they’re in trouble with Cooler, so they’re going to be helping you and your elite force for a few days until they prove themselves back into your brother’s army, if that’s ok with you,” Cold replied. “It would be doing us a great favor.”

Frieza sighed. “I suppose I could have them go with the Ginyu Force for now. They are similar in… many different ways. Squadron, head to the Ginyu Force’s headquarters. Fourth room on your right.”

“Of course.” Salza, the blue skinned “pretty boy” captain and the strongest of the Squadron obeyed. The other two, Doore and Neiz bowed and followed. Salza’s eye twitched slightly. He didn’t very enjoy taking orders from someone he hadn’t learned to listen to, and he wasn’t so happy about having to work with the Ginyu Force, mostly because of a certain red man on their team that he didn’t want to associate with. 

 

“Where are you taking me?” Eden’s scratchy and sore throat managed to ask silently. 

“You’ll stay locked up for now, until Lord Frieza decides what to do, of course,” Ginyu said a little too calmly.

Eden coughed. “But why? He already said I just have to prove myself to live… So why are you keeping me?”

“Jeez. Relax, kid. You’ll be out in a little bit once Lord Frieza talks to those other monkeys probably, then you’ll go back to your man or whatever. But you have to train or you’re good as dead. I may not like your kind but you seem like you could be a strong opponent someday.”

Eden sighed, coughing as the sharp pain in her ribs shocked her. “Remind me to thank his daddy for saving me…”

“Don’t even try. He was in a real good mood today, you were extremely lucky. Never seen anything like it.”

Eden didn’t answer as she was dragged to his private quarters and was thrown to the wall like a ragdoll: a great change in mood from the Captain. She slid down with no energy left in her system. She didn’t feel so great, but was exaggerating her damaged state just a little, wincing at every touch as if it would incite others to treat her more carefully, but it obviously wasn’t working. 

Ginyu turned and left, making sure to tightly lock the door from the outside: Perfect for these situations. He passed by the canteen again and noticed Vegeta and Raditz seemingly having a fight. Actually, it was more like a one-sided beating with Raditz on the receiving end. 

He was standing strong, though, and for a second, Ginyu smiled at the sight. Raditz used to be knocked out from a single knock on the head from the Prince, but here he is, taking a beating quite well. 

Ginyu walked back through the polished floor of the ship. He noticed the loud ruckus and the flying food… and people beforehand but never made anything off it, since it was nothing too out of the ordinary for a day in Frieza’s ship, especially when the army members thought that the Emperor was still out on some business. 

He noticed Zarbon already walking towards them, simply following the tyrant’s orders. Ginyu speed walked over to him and gave a quick nod. 

Vegeta had finally let go of Raditz. The lower class warrior limped and slumped to the floor, utterly defeated. He sighed, stretching a bit before looking back at Nappa, who was still flinging around men like nothing. 

“I hope you learned your lesson this time.” Vegeta lowered his gaze to his bloody comrade.

“Y-Yeah,” Raditz sputtered out. He was used to being humiliated, beaten and tortured by his Prince. There was nothing he could do about it and his will to keep going was quickly deteriorating.

“You two!” They turned to the source of the voice,   
Ginyu, who was pointing at the two. “Get your asses over here, and call Nappa too.” 

“Why?” Vegeta growled. Raditz stood, wobbling on his feet, holding the right side of his face.

Zarbon answered. “Because you two are in some deep shit with Lord Frieza. Good luck.” 

“Frieza? He’s back already?” Raditz mumbled. Putting off the whole situation with Frieza eventually finding out about their new possession would now prove to be a real challenge.

“Does this have to do with… that girl? Did you do something to her you purple bastard?” Vegeta growled, his fists, still dripping with blood clenching. He was confident in that Ginyu wouldn’t lose his temper and kill the Prince that easily. 

Ginyu only smiled and made a ‘come hither’ motion. Raditz reluctantly followed him, the blood in his veins boiling while Vegeta only needed glade look at Nappa to summon him over. The two were bonded enough to know what the other was thinking with one look in their eyes. Sometimes they exaggerated, but that was the gist of it. 

None of the Saiyans had ever liked anyone of the Ginyu Force. Deep down, they were afraid, even Vegeta. The Saiyans couldn’t even dream of matching their power, and that made them angry. Feeling inferior was not one of their strong suits. 

“Dodoria! Cui! You’re supposed to be calming these idiots down, not joining them!” yelled Zarbon, startling everyone in the canteen. “Monkey, get a move on.”

Nappa grumbled something under his breath, glancing at both Zarbon and Vegeta before kicking an unmoving body and shuffling his way out of the canteen, dodging splattered food.

The pink skinned commander chuckled nervously, as did Cui, and dropped someone from his harsh grip. “Heh. Yeah, sorry about that.” 

Zarbon sighed. “Leave them be. Just… help me clean up here.” He scanned the huge area full of unconscious bodies, some with strangling breaths. 

Ginyu led the three of them both to Frieza’s throne room, where Cold was still leaning silently against the wall with his arms crossed. He perked up once he heard Vegeta’s very recognizable growl. “Ah! There you are. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Vegeta pursed his lips and looked off to the side while Raditz and Nappa awkwardly bowed, hand to their chests.”

“There’s no need for that, though I appreciate it,” Cold dismissed the gesture with a sway of his hand. The two stood back up, obviously embarrassed with a red tint on their cheeks. “Now, we need to discuss something very serious.”

Vegeta desperately wanted to scoff and say, “Really? Do we now?” but he didn’t want to risk death so early in his life. Raditz simply let a bead of sweat roll down his face, but still stood tall. He’s learned through experience what the smug yet livid look on Frieza’s face meant. Instead, Vegeta stayed silent and his deadpan expression remained unchanged.

The two tyrants looked at Raditz as if to say, “Dear Gods, what happened to your face?” but really, they didn’t care enough to ask. In fact, they knew the answer already. They were well aware of Vegeta’s abuse to his own men, and in a way, they were proud.

“You already know what I’m livid about, I’m assuming,” Frieza‘s strained voice spoke. “Your new friend is locked up until I figure out what I’m going to do, since Father isn’t allowing me to kill her unless she fails to prove herself…”

“Bastard,” Vegeta grumbled, low enough for only him to hear.

“And I think I know a fair way for you four to figure this predicament yourselves.” Frieza eyed his father, who nodded in agreement. They had quickly spoken of the matter before as everyone had stepped out, not like they would let any of the Saiyans try to make some kind of bargain. Cold was skeptical about the intensity of the trial, or as Frieza would call it, a plain punishment as he believed it to be impossible for those of their caliber, but didn’t want to give them anymore leniency. After all, this wasn’t like him.

“And that is?” Vegeta took one step forward, pride which would remain unfaltering slowly raising in his tone.


End file.
